The Wrath of Dark Alchemy
by ClairvoyantMoonchild
Summary: /ignores Dark Dawn/ Six years have passed, and Weyard has fallen into despair. Sensing its time has come, an ancient power, hidden from history, awaits to be freed from its hellish prison to bring the world into a Dark Age, just as it did centuries ago...
1. Chapter 1

_**Wrath of Dark Alchemy**__**  
**_**Infiltration: The Beginning of the End  
**

The golden sun had long since set.

As the sky darkened and slowly lost what little light the moon could give, a bitter icy chill began to settle in the air of the forest of Lunpa. There did not appear to be any wind, however, only an uncomfortably perpetual coldness of the night. With the ominous looking trees obscuring the view of the sky, it seemed impossible to successfully walk the long, snaking trail that was a traveler's only hope of successfully navigating the long gloom of the woods.

This monstrous labyrinth of demonic looking trees, seemingly waiting to seize and devour unsuspecting travelers, was fittingly situated between the perverse, feared settlement of Lunpa, and the rest of the continent of Angara. Bordering the town on the opposite side of the woodland were massive mountains, making the forest the only way to go to and from Lunpa. Those who had been brave enough to seek Lunpa during the past six years by entering this forest had either been killed, or had returned deeply distressed, carrying demons of the mind.

A sudden cold wind swept through the forest, swaying the leaves of the trees, providing one of the few sounds to be heard on this silent night. Every now and then, a growl or a hiss would be heard from the unknown number of animals and monsters that dwelled in the forest. A fearful man would consider these signs of hunger, or a warning to those who would dare trespass on their territory. But in truth, the creatures were frightened beyond all belief. Though lacking the ability to form in their brains images of unspeakable nightly demons and devils as humans could, the creatures of the forest could sense with their ingrained instinct that something abnormal was approaching them. Something that by its very existence spoke of insurmountable iniquity…

Soon, all was silent, save for the wind that seemed to grow colder and stronger by the second, as two darkly cloaked figures made their way through the forest. Neither spoke a word or even passed a glance toward each other as they made their way to their destination without a single uncertain step.

* * *

The flames of the torches adorning both sides of the Lunpa gate crackled, casting dim shadows along the wall that barred unauthorized entrance to the town behind it.

Donpappa shivered, and tried to move closer to one of the torches, but the icy chill of the night made it hard, if not impossible, to enjoy what little warmth the torches offered. He shivered not only from the icy chill, but from his fear of the dark.

He knew it was ridiculous that he had held onto such a childish fear. He had trained himself to be a soldier, and Donpappa knew that he had experienced things far more terrifying than the harmless dark of the night.

But as he stood before the gates that defended his hometown, his mind would eventually invariably imagine something in the darkness just a few yards away, where the torchlight couldn't reach, watching and waiting for his only source of light to disappear.

He hated feeling so helpless, but there was nothing he could do about it except attempt to move past it. After all, there were far worse and much more real things to fear. And for this young soldier, nothing could be any worse than the man he had once considered to be his father, Dodonpa.

Thinking of that man made Donpappa clench his fists in anger, helping him to momentarily forget his fear. Since the assassination of his grandfather Donpa by a Kalay soldier, the ruler of Lunpa had instantly gone back on his word to be a better man. Callous brigands under Dodonpa's rule once again seized control of the town, just as they had during the kidnapping of Kalay's Lord Hammet, and for the past three years had made personally sure that the townspeople never forgot it.

Donpappa had watched his beloved home crumble before his eyes everyday for nearly two years until he had become of age to be a soldier. He had then begun to use his newfound authority to secretly help willing families escape from the tyrannical reign of his father, and had sent them on their way to freedom… or so he had hoped. He had known from the very beginning how risky these plans were, for him and the escaping townspeople, but it wasn't until he had actually been caught that he regretted ever even trying to be a hero…

* * *

_The heavy wooden door was covered in blood, and Donpappa felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had never been in this corridor before, but he immediately knew where he was. The soldiers that had captured him were leading him to the torture chamber, where the sounds of screams were often heard throughout the fortress. Terrifying thoughts filled his head as they pushed the door open and held it open for him to walk through. Was his father going to subject him to whatever had made its previous victims scream so painfully? As he looked around at his new surroundings, he flinched at the sight._

_As far as Donpappa knew, this chamber had only recently been set up as a means of frightening the townspeople, yet it looked as though it had been in use for years. Frightening looking contraptions lay around the room, and bloody corpses littered the floor. The smell of rotting flesh was sickening and Donpappa felt a wave of nausea wash over him. He couldn't understand why they had left the bodies to rot the way they did. It was just so needlessly cruel._

_Standing in the middle of the room, apparently unaffected by the horrors around him, was his father, Dodonpa._

"_I never thought my own son would betray me," Dodonpa said, and Donpappa could swear he heard a slight tinge of regret behind his contemptuous tone. "Have you no respect for the man who brought you into this world?"_

_Donpappa summoned what little defiance he had left and looked away, ignoring the question, only to feel a fist sink into his stomach. He doubled over as saliva flew from his gaping mouth to the ground._

"_Don't turn away from me when I am talking to you! Now look at me!"_

_Donpappa complied, and his father spoke, "I must admit that you have surprised me. I wouldn't have thought you capable of betraying me while continuing to walk the halls of this fortress. But unfortunately for you, your stupidity blinded you to the true situation at hand. Did you forget that I warned not only you but everyone working beneath me that I had spies watching your every move?"_

_Donpappa didn't answer, feeling like an icy hand had gripped his heart. His face betrayed his hope of concealing his fear, and his father shook his head with a look of what he thought was pity. "Did you really think you were a hero all this time? Well, take a good look at what your heroism had led to." Dodonpa gestured to the bodies strewn on the floor and hanging from chains. Donpappa had guessed the result ahead of time, but that did nothing to prepare him for the sight of the lifeless bodies of the desperate people he had tried to save. People who had given up on life and had found hope in his generosity. Now their faces were frozen in agony that they wouldn't have been made to experience if not for him._

"_As you can see, you didn't save a single soul. Maybe this will teach you not to take my laws lightly."_

_Donpappa looked back at his father with the harshest look he could muster. Dodonpa glared back at him and spoke, his voice a malicious hiss, "What is that? Are you trying to frighten me? You think I'm intimidated by you?"_

_Donpappa didn't answer, and Dodonpa suddenly unsheathed his sword and tossed it to the floor in front of Donpappa, the clang of the sword echoing through the chamber. "You think you're better than me?" Dodonpa spat. "Do you think for one second that this town can survive without me? Then pick the sword up and prove it."_

_Donpappa didn't move, refusing to give in to his father's demand, and simply stared at him contemptibly. Dodonpa leered and raised one fist. "You know something? I hate it when you look at me like that… like you're important enough to look at me with disrespect. I see it all the time…" With full force, he slammed his fist into Donpappa's left cheek and he fell to the floor. Donpappa tasted blood as cringed in pain, covering his cheek with his hand as if to soothe the ache._

"_I don't ever want to see you look at me like that again. When you look at me like that, you challenge me, and you'd better believe I'm going to rise to that challenge. When you learn to respect me, you will receive it in turn. Until that day, you will only ever have my pity."_

"_Save it for yourself…"_

_Dodonpa's face contorted with rage. His words were shaking uncontrollably with fury. "What did you say to me?"_

_Donpappa, having had more than enough and seething with rage, looked up to face the man who was responsible for the hell that was his life. For a second, Donpappa could see fear in his father's eyes at the incensed expression he knew he must have on his face, filling him with an almost aggressive prideful feeling that he'd never felt before. With these feelings, he acidly spoke, "I told you to save your pity for yourself! Do you think I'm the only one who hates you? Everybody does! I've never wanted your approval and I'll never want it!"_

_With that final scream, he lunged at his father, and sank his own fist into his father's stomach. But the punch seemed only to anger Dodonpa as he raised his fist and slammed it into his son's face. Donpappa felt blinding pain as the sickening crack of his nose breaking entered his ears. He felt himself stumbling backwards, feeling blood flowing freely from his nose, before he collapsed onto the crimson floor, his sense of pride now in tatters._

_With a livid look on his face, Dodonpa walked to his son's body and began to deliver swift, painful kicks to his stomach, accompanied by indistinguishable screams of fury._

_Donpappa's screams of pain echoed through the halls of the fortress, like those of earlier torture victims before disappearing.

* * *

_

He had pushed himself to let go of his shame and guilt of what had happened on that day, but the memory would forever haunt him. After that day, he had been dismissed as a soldier of Lunpa and exiled by Dodonpa, who had said he was too disgusted to kill him himself.

However, thanks to his mother and sister, Donpappa had managed to secretly reside in Lunpa for about a week before leaving with them both and helping them escape aboard a boat on the Karagol Sea bound for Tolbi, promising that he would find and bring the both of them back once he had found a way to overthrow Dodonpa. From then on, he had begun living outside of the walls of his town, attempting to better his skills as a swordsman. It was all he could have hoped to do at the time, having no real plan to fight his father's reign.

But as his self-training continued, events were unfolding all around him. A systematic series of attacks by Lunpa on all neighboring towns had begun, occurring so quickly that every town was caught off guard by the attack. Soon after, the trading industry that the city of Kalay had built itself upon was brought to an abrupt halt as a result of Dodonpa's sudden attack, throwing the city into a panic within weeks. The growing anger of the city towards Lunpa finally reached its boiling point when the beloved Lady Layanna was killed in her sleep by an unknown assailant. The blame immediately fell on Lunpa, and Lord Hammett had ordered a counterattack.

The attempt to bring Dodonpa to justice failed, however, and the enraged Lunpa lord struck back with a full on assault on the opposing city. The brutal battle had ended with the surrender of Kalay. The conquest of the prosperous city had been a horrible blow to all who wished to see Dodonpa fall. And worse yet, it had only been the beginning.

The villagers of Vale had been attacked while rebuilding their beloved town which had been destroyed by the unexplained collapse of the famed Mt. Aleph one year earlier. The plans for the town's full reconstruction had tragically never come to fruition, and the villagers had been forced to make do with what little they had. Vault and Altin had been spared from destruction, but were still losing provisions to Lunpa every day. The people of Kolima, however, had not been so lucky, and had been burned to the ground after a vicious raid. Xian had put up a fight against Lunpa, and the battle had ended with the town becoming an abandoned ruin site, and the last survivors escaping into nearby forests, their fates unknown. Things only grew worse when Lord McCoy of Bilibin was killed during an attack on the town, and the strong army of Bilibin was willingly merged with Lunpa's army.

Without Kalay's strength, the only hope for Angara was widely considered to be the Tolbi naval force, which had been set up during the war and was winning the battles against Lunpa and Kalay on the Karagol. But it was only a matter of time before the focused attacks on the area would take their toll on Tolbi's ships.

Donpappa had heard historical accounts of vicious battles in the past, but he wondered if any had ever been as horrid as the one Weyard was now enduring. He'd heard many townspeople of Lunpa speak of the war as a sign of the approaching end of the world, but he'd never believed it. In fact, in spite of all that had happened, he still didn't believe it, and not because of the optimism or positive ideals that Dodonpa had hated. He simply didn't think that the stupidity of people was enough to bring about the world's end, especially when even during these times he had seen the good people could do, and how harshly it contrasted with their worst. The world was not completely lost in hatred yet. He had to believe that, or he'd have no reason to try and help it.

Suddenly, his troubled thoughts were interrupted by a distant sound.

Looking up, he saw three people watching him from the trees. He was surprised at first, but immediately gave a nod of silent confirmation, signaling his identity as the "contact", as he had been called for this operation he had arranged to infiltrate his father's fortress. With that, a small group of about five people slowly emerged from the trees.

A spy from Kalay had entered the fortress with Donpappa's help disguised as a Lunpa soldier. He had been on a reconnaissance mission from a secret group of soldiers working against Lord Hammett. They planned to take advantage of Lunpa's low defenses at the moment and kill Dodonpa. Meanwhile, a smaller group in Kalay was conspiring to raid the palace, and force Hammett himself to stop the fighting. The soldier had acquired maps of the fortress and had taken them back to the group.

The leader of the group spoke quietly as he neared the young man. "Is everything ready?"

Donpappa nodded. "One of the spies is guarding the secret Lunpa gate in that cave." At this, he pointed to the cave that led to the city. "He's left it open slightly so he can hear any noise on the other side. Tell him when you're ready, and he'll let you in."

The man nodded. "All right. More of our group should be arriving shortly. Give them the same directions when they do. Got it?"

Donpappa nodded, the soldier turned to the others. "Let's go."

The Lunpa heir looked to the ground in contemplation as the group swiftly ran toward the cave and disappeared within the dark tunnels. He was not sure how to feel about what he had done. He had betrayed his father to these soldiers, and though he could not say he loved his father, he also could not help but feel sympathy for him. He had never known his past, but he supposed something terrible must have happened to him at some point in his life to turn him into such a terrible person. He liked to believe that nobody was ever born with a path of evil laid out for them to follow.

He was still thinking deeply when a sound once again interrupted his thoughts. The noise was very faint at first, but it gradually seemed to get louder. Listening closely, he realized that it was somebody's whispering voice.

For a second, Donpappa's earlier feeling of hope had vanished, replaced with fear. His mind was once again plagued with thoughts of demons hiding in the shadows. But he immediately pushed the thought away, remembering what the soldier had told him to do.

With that in mind, he prepared to meet the soldiers, but stopped suddenly, gripped with fear, as he saw two dark figures, both clad in cloaks, emerge from the forest. Behind them, Donpappa noticed the group of soldiers following them. None of them seemed to notice him. He was tempted to call out to them, but there was something unsettling about those cloaked figures, that he decided to keep silent for now. He watched as they walked toward and entered the cave before following them stealthily. A feeling inside told him to stay away, but he ignored it and continued on.

As he walked into the cave, an unpleasant feeling came over him. It was very dim and silent, and the dripping sounds of water from the ceiling echoed off the walls. The footsteps were ahead now and fading. It seemed they were not wasting any time. As he continued through the cave, he stopped as he heard whispering voices, once again, and strained to hear what was being said.

And suddenly, his blood went cold as he heard the sounds of screaming. Multiple voices were screaming in intense agony. He immediately thought of the soldiers that had spoken to him, and terrible thoughts ran through his head. Had they been found out? Had they been betrayed? Had they even had a chance of succeeding from the beginning?

But as quickly as it had begun, it was over. He heard the sounds of walking again. Either the small group of soldiers had all been slaughtered in seconds, which Donpappa thought was very unlikely, or else… what? He didn't know. But he couldn't just stay where he was. He had to know the truth, as horrifying as it would undoubtedly be.

He began walking again, trying to move quickly, but also trying to keep silent. He reached a turn, and he knew that the gate was around the corner.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, a strange unknown sound was heard, followed by a lone scream of fright, which immediately changed to a scream of pain. Unable to take anymore, Donpappa ran around the corner to see what had occurred.

The soldiers of Kalay all stood in front of the gate, silent and unmoving. Beside them, a figure cloaked in black was watching the gate. As Donpappa wondered where the other mysterious figure was, he heard the sound of the gate opening from the other side. When it had rose to touch the ceiling of the cave, he saw a man cloaked in a dark blue standing near the gate switch, as well as the spy he had left in charge of opening of the gate on the floor, clutching his left leg, which Donpappa saw had been stabbed. Somehow, the man in blue had gotten across to the other side of the gate without opening it first. But how?

But Donpappa pushed his contemplations away as the man wreathed in azure suddenly began kicking the man repeatedly, forcing him to roll away. He stopped kicking as the soldier rolled beneath the gate. Without warning, the gate fell, but stopped suddenly just inches above the man's throat, having been stopped by the switch.

The soldier stared at him with fearful eyes, and Donpappa felt a wave of dread wash over him as he saw the man's cruel smile beneath the dark blue cloak. He pushed the switch again, and the gate fell. And Donpappa turned away as a sickening sound was heard. The gate was heard ascending again, and this time, there was no sound from the man. He had been decapitated.

Donpappa was so shocked by the brutal murder that he was dimly aware of how badly his body was shaking in anger. But his anger was secondary to his growing fear of the murderer, whose icy smile could once again be seen. The young boy felt utterly sick, not just at the guard's pitiful death, but at the realization that a _human_ was committing such intolerable acts, and was… smiling about them.

Or perhaps it wasn't a human? Perhaps this was the demon that Donpappa had feared was lurking in the night, come to bring this town even more pain than it had already suffered. Not even his father could be compared to this psychotic being, for he had never laughed or had ever even been the slightest bit amused at the prospect of killing fellow humans, brutal and hate-filled though he was.

Without a word, the soldiers began walking in unison through the gate, stepping over the body of the decapitated man.

Just as Donpappa started to follow, the man who had murdered the spy suddenly turned around and looked straight at him. "And where do you think you are going?"

Donpappa felt his blood go cold again as the other cloaked figure turned abruptly towards him. He instinctively raised his spear, preparing for a fight. He examined both of them as he waited.

"You expect to kill us with that? Oh, do entertain me." It was the man cloaked in blue that had spoken.

Donpappa clenched his teeth. "You don't scare me…"

A cold laugh was heard and the voice spoke again in a mocking tone that Donpappa had already grown to despise. "Oh, do we not? Let's see if we can alter that problem…"

He hesitated, and the next second the blue-cloaked figure raised his left hand with his palm facing Donpappa.

One moment, the young guard was staring ahead, filled with a terror he could not explain, and the next, he felt what had to be icy cold-water shoot from the ground below him with the force of a geyser, sending his body crashing into the ceiling of the cave. When he landed back on the ground, he could only lie there in pain and alarm for a few moments. When he finally managed to get up, he looked up to see his attacker smiling gleefully.

With a yell of anger, the young soldier raised his spear above his head and prepared to fling it at the man.

"_Frost."_

The spear was thrown, but instead of stabbing the man, it smacked a wall of ice that had materialized from the floor, snapping in two. Donpappa stared in astonishment as the wall then melted in seconds.

The man smiled. "Are you frightened yet?"

His anger returning, Donpappa pulled his own sword from his sheath and charged. He feinted to the left, and then lunged to stab him. The sword hit another wall of ice that had been spawned too quickly for his attack. The impact caused Donpappa to drop his sword and scream as he felt an explosion of pain in his hand caused by the recoil.

Once again, the wall melted into water. The man hadn't even moved. "I pity you. Even if I wasn't being aided by my power, you're a terrible fighter."

The figure in blue raised his hand with his palm facing down, and Donpappa watched as tiny, glowing, blue molecules began to form at his palm. They formed into a sphere of water that began to rapidly spin in midair, floating. Without warning, it suddenly flew at the young man staring in confusion, and he screamed as it struck him in the chest. The force sent him flying backwards into the wall of the cave, slowly sliding down in defeat.

"How typical of you so-called soldiers," the azure man spoke with a bored tone. "You talk like heroes to those who are weak and dependent upon you, but in the face of real strength, all you can do is talk."

Through his numb shock, Donpappa felt like screaming in opposition to such a false accusation, but he stopped himself when he heard the other man's voice.

"Enough. You are wasting time." There was no mocking tone, anger, or any trace of humor in his voice.

His senses somewhat regained, Donpappa turned to look where the voice had come from, and saw the other man cloaked in black, standing against the wall by a torch, illuminating what little could be seen under his hood. Donpappa immediately felt a sense of recognition as he heard the man's voice. He had seen this person before, but he did not remember when or where. Plus, the lack of suitable light made it hard for Donpappa to see his face from how far away he was. The man in black began walking toward him as the azure man sighed and began to walk towards the cave exit.

Donpappa picked up his sword with his other hand, awaiting an attack from the approaching man.

The cloaked man raised his left hand and uttered something that Donpappa could just barely hear...

"_Dark Curse."_

The last thing the young guard felt was a burning pain spreading through his being. The last thing he saw was the cave before his vision was obscured by blackness. And the last thing he heard was his own screaming as the pain overwhelmed him. It consumed him, and he felt like he was falling into a long tunnel of everlasting shadow…

* * *

It was just as dark, silent and cold in the town of Lunpa as it was outside of the gates. Those who were patrolling the town felt no safety within the gates, though they did not know why.

The only sounds were the croaking of frogs in the well of the ghost town, and a quiet conversation between a trio of brigands patrolling the village, two with green cloaks, and one with an orange one.

"I'm telling you, I heard screams in that cave," one of the green-cloaked men said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I don't care," retorted the one in orange. "You know that the gate can't be opened, so even if there is someone in there, they aren't getting through. Let them rot for all I care."

"How do we know we won't be betrayed again?" the other thief replied worriedly. "We didn't think Dodonpa's kid would have the spine for it, but he still did it."

"Let's just go and see already," said the third thief. "It wouldn't be the first time that intruders snuck into the town, you know. Besides, we have an extra shift out here and I don't fancy the thought of being stabbed on my watch."

"Correction, _you_ have an extra shift out here," the orange-cloaked man snapped. "_I'm_ going back to the fortress and going to sleep."

There was a grim silence that followed his words as he turned and walked off to the north, where the fortress of Lunpa was situated.

As soon as he was out of earshot, one of the brigands turned to the other and growled, "What the hell is his problem? Is a whole two minutes of searching really that much work for him?"

The other thief spoke in a much more reserved voice. "Forget it. He'd probably be the first to run away if we found something anyway. Now let's just go look in that cave."

The two green-cloaked men walked to the west of town where the cave entrance. When they arrived at the stairs that led into the dark abyss that was the Lunpa cave, they both shivered as they heard the wind whistle through the cave, creating an almost ghostly sound.

"After you," one said grimly. The other made sure to discreetly keep one of his hands on his sword's sheath as he led the way into the long blackness.

No one heard the screams echo through the cave just a few seconds later.

* * *

The orange-cloaked thief walked through the tunnels of the Lunpa fortress. He had been ordered at the last minute to report on the current status of the fortress, which had made him angry, but he wasn't going to contradict Dodonpa. Anyone who did was rarely seen by the following morning. By now, he had to have passed about five guards sleeping on the job; there was definitely a good chance an intruder could be walking around undetected.

_Idiots, _he thought. _They'd all be sent to the dungeon if Dodonpa found out… _

He'd definitely report this to the Lunpa lord, if only to rid himself of worthless bottom feeders like them, and he wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep because of it. Though the thieves and soldiers of Dodonpa worked together, it was common knowledge that they were an army that prided themselves on surviving through betrayal and greed, not cooperation. A nest of insects took better care of each other than the thieves of Lunpa. Each one of them was constantly waiting for the right moment to strike at each other, if it meant more food for them at the end of the day.

But those thoughts faded and were replaced by anxiety when he heard footsteps behind. He turned around; the hall was dimly lit and the guard was still asleep.

He turned around and continued walking, when he heard the footsteps again, along with low breathing. Now he was sure someone was following him, and there was more than one.

He turned again, and nearly yelled. As he observed the group, he spotted both his partner thieves and behind them, the guard of the corridor was finally awake, grinning as he stood by their side. And behind him, all the other guards that he had thought were sleeping were now awake, and the shocked thief immediately knew they had tricked him by pretending to be asleep, for some unknown reason. As the group stepped into the light of the torches, the thief's eyes widened in fear as he saw their faces.

Their faces were almost the same as before, but the one aspect that shocked him into a stunned silence was their eyes. They were now as black as the night sky, completely devoid of all color, leaving no sign of their pupils.

The brigand stared in shock, unable to speak as he saw the thieves' unnatural eyes and horrifying grins. And suddenly, they took one step towards him, stepping at the same time, causing the lone thief to pull his blade out.

With no sign of fear, the group just stared. "Would you really kill your only friends? Or perhaps, they are not your friends? After all, nobody cares about each other here, right?"

It didn't take long for the horror-struck thief to realize that not only were they saying these words at the exact same time, but the voices, or voice, coming from their mouths were not their own. An entirely different voice was being emitted from each thief.

But before he could say or do anything, he heard the voice say two words,

"_Dark Curse."_

He didn't even get a chance to grasp what was just said, because in the next second, unbearable pain clouded his every thought, and he knew no more.

* * *

The Lunpa dungeons were filled with the smell of decay and death. Bodies littered the floor of this place and blood stained the walls.

An unholy place of death.

Yet the dead, regretfully tortured and slain by the ones in control of the decaying town, would now receive a chance for retribution.

A voice echoed softly through the death chamber.

"_Dark Restoration…"_

Ghostly groans and angered growls now filled the chamber, but an insidious command could still be heard throughout the room…

"_Kill."

* * *

_

A Lunpa soldier rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself awake. Guards were missing and he had heard a scream, but Dodonpa had told him to stay where he was, telling him he would bring help momentarily. But the soldier was no fool. Dodonpa couldn't care less what happened to him, or anyone else for that matter. All he was concerned with was saving his own skin, and he would sacrifice every one of his personal soldiers to do it if he had to.

And yet, he had let the self-serving lord walk right by him into the inner chambers of the fortress without a word. The thief had decided some time ago that he no longer cared what happened to him. He wasn't especially old, but he was tired and weakened by all the fighting and pain he had experienced. His only motivation for continuing the charade that was now his life was the hope of seeing Dodonpa fall.

He was about to surrender to his exhaustion when a strange groaning sound was heard. He opened his eyes and saw a figure at the end of the dark corridor he was facing.

_What the hell was that? _He thought to himself. The groan was unlike anything he had ever heard.

The figure walked strangely, more like a stagger than a walk. Looking closely, the thief saw the figure move into another corridor on the left.

And what was that other sound? It sounded like dripping water, or some sort of liquid.

He took a breath and followed the figure. As he walked down the dim hallway towards the other corridor on the left, he stopped as he heard a groan again. This time, he felt a bit scared. That sound… it sounded so sad and forlorn, almost ghostly and inhuman. But that was not the only thing that bothered the anxious man… looking at the floor the figure had been walking on, he saw that there was a crimson trail of blood. The figure was bleeding profusely.

He swallowed hard as he heard the person moan again, louder this time.

And now a terrible smell filled his nose. Strange… like the smell of decay. Like the dungeon of Lunpa, the man thought, where the bodies of villagers were left after they were tortured and murdered. Shivering violently, he had a feeling that he didn't want to enter the corridor the figure had walked into, but he couldn't stop now. Gripping his sword so that his knuckles were white, he took a last breath, peeked around the corner…

And neither saw or heard anything. The corridor was empty, but a long trail of blood led to another path that the soldier knew would lead to a dead-end. Forgetting his fear, the thief ran down the corridor following the blood, anxious to find the figure and finally uncover what in the world was going on. He turned the last corner…

And there it was. The figure stood in the shadows, out of the torchlight, facing him. It seemed to be moving slightly from left to right, looking like it had a problem keeping itself upright.

"Who are you…?"

The figure stood still for a second, and then walked forward into the light. As the thief saw the figure's face, his sword dropped with a clang. The thief's face was twisted with disgust and fear as he looked upon the face of a man he himself had been forced to kill. The undead man moaned again, and this time there was a touch of anger to it as he lumbered towards the thief.

The frightened man rapidly stepped backward, slipping as he did and falling to the floor. Blood dripped from the undead man's body. The smell of rotting flesh was more apparent and overwhelming than ever. The thief wanted to run, but the multiple groans he now heard from the hallway behind him told him it was useless.

"I… I'm s-sorry…" It was all he could think to say as he watched it slowly approach him.

The zombie stood before its cowering killer and opened its grotesque, rotted mouth to moan sadly once more. The moan slowly became a hiss, and the undead creature proceeded to enact its revenge…

* * *

Dodonpa ran towards the main cell of the fortress, the lair of the monster of Lunpa. He had not set foot in the cell for a long time now as it brought back unpleasant memories of the weeks he had spent in there on his father's orders. But now, having just heard the screams echoing through the fortress, he knew there was no safer place to hide. He was not particularly worried about it; Lunpa had survived many battles in the past after all. And with trained soldiers and Toadonpa to guard him, he knew there was not much for him to personally worry about.

But he couldn't shake the feeling of fear deep down inside of him. That man had promised him he would not be hurt throughout this war. But now, Dodonpa wished he hadn't made that bargain.

* * *

"_Who are you?" Dodonpa inquired of the man standing in his quarters as if he owned it. He was wrapped in a blue cloak, and his face was hidden by a hood. Equally blue strands of hair ran down his concealed face.  
_

"_That is not important," He answered._

"_Like hell it isn't!" Dodonpa roared. "Nobody just waltzes in here!"_

"_My lord, with all due respect, I must ask you to shut your mouth before you anger me." The man said coldly._

_Dodonpa regarded the man silently for a moment before speaking in a self-assured tone. "__You're either very brave or very stupid, insulting me right here in my fortress. But either way, I'll make you wish you'd just stayed home." He turned around and began to stride towards the door._

_The man scoffed. "__Oh, trust me, I already wish that, rather than have to deal with a cowardly bottom-feeder like you."_

_Dodonpa whirled around and felt ready to lunge at the man himself, but stopped when he spoke once more. "But I am here to offer you a deal."_

_Dodonpa froze. "What deal?"_

"_One that involves using your power and wealth to spread your influence as the ruler of Lunpa further than you've ever thought possible."_

_Dodonpa chuckled to himself. He had dealt with people like this before. Merchants and business men from nearby towns and faraway cities had attempted to create deals designed to stab him in the back while they took a portion of his wealth, foolishly thinking he would not be able to see through their charades. All had failed, and this one would be no different. He decided to humor the man a bit longer to see how he would go about this so-called deal._

"_In other words, you want to help me take over Weyard," Dodonpa said, already smirking._

"_Not necessarily. I am talking about taking it over myself, and allowing you to share a good deal of the power I will attain. You should be honored to be the human I ask for help."_

_Dodonpa's smirk was gone, replaced by a look of confusion. "Why are you talking like that? Are you not a human being as well?"_

"_No. I am something else entirely. Something that is far superior to humans."_

_Dodonpa began to feel a bit uneasy, but shrugged it off. This man was clearly suffering from some kind of delusion, but that made this more interesting. He was eager to see where this amusing story went. "If that's the case, then why did you say you were here for my help? Surely, the power you want can be obtained without us 'inferior' beings?"_

"_Indeed it could," The man said, a cool tone suddenly making itself apparent in his voice. "And it would be all too easy. However, it would also take long, and I am offering you the chance to speed up the process. And again, you will be acquiring a bit of the power I will gain in return. Anything you wish for will be yours."_

"_And how would I 'speed up' the process, as you put it?"_

"_By allowing me to use every one of your resources for my own use, and by that, I mean your fortress, your army, and your wealth."_

_Dodonpa burst out laughing. "I see. I must say, no one's ever been so blunt in their attempts to stab me in the back before. You're either delusional, or you came here with the intent to amuse me, at which you certainly succeeded in doing. I may just lighten your sentence for that." He began to walk towards the door._

"_I must advise you not to try to summon any guards. You will greatly regret it."_

_Dodonpa turned around at these words, his face contorted with anger. "Are you threatening me?"_

_"Yes, I am."_

_Dodonpa glared as he turned around and pulled the door open. His personal guards were staring back at him with widened eyes, faces frozen in an expression of pain; both of their throats had been sliced by a blade and fresh blood was dripping from the wounds._

_Whirling around, Dodonpa pulled a small, concealed blade from its sheath on his belt and turned to lunge at the man, but he was gone. He then felt a fist strike his back. Pain exploded through his body, and he screamed as he flew forward onto the floor, his dagger flying from his hand and landing several feet away from him._

_"How...?"_

_"I warned you... do you wish to continue?"_

_Dodonpa stared at him fearfully. This man's voice was icy and menacing. "Alright… take whatever you want… I don't care, just take it and leave…" _

"_That is enough cowering. I did not come here to rob you. As I have said, I am willing to share a bit of the power I will gain with you. No one but the weak would refuse this chance. As I understand it, many have believed you to be weak since your business with the merchant Hammet. Well, now is your chance to shatter that image. I will help you to incite fear in your people once more, and make your enemies wish they had never angered you."_

_Dodonpa stared at the floor, thinking back. Indeed he had been stripped of all glory and pride since his fall at the hands of the mysterious quartet that had infiltrated his fortress. The people of Lunpa regarded him as a coward who feared the very mention of his father's name, and his father had begun a trade system between Lunpa and Kalay to make amends for Dodonpa's actions, so now Kalay's people no doubt called him a coward. Even his family looked upon him spitefully. His wife stared at him with disrespect, his parents with shame, his daughter with pity, and his son with contempt. And for the past year, he had simply accepted it all. He was no longer the ruler of Lunpa. He had just become a face for the people to point and laugh at while he followed his father's every whim. He felt his rage boil inside him and he clenched his fists so tightly that it hurt._

"_And now that you have heard my request, I must ask a little favor of you."_

_Dodonpa looked up at the man, forgetting his growing rage for the moment, and seeing an expressionless look on his face. What could he possibly want from him now? "What favor?"_

"_Just your involvement in a quick experiment of mine."_

"_Experiment?"_

_The azure-cloaked man pulled back his heavy cloak to reveal a hidden sword in its sheath. He pulled the sword out of its sheath and threw it to the floor at Dodonpa's feet. Dodonpa didn't move._

"_Now that you know what I plan to do and what I am capable of, I am going to give you the chance right now to kill me."_

_Dodonpa stared at him in bewilderment, unable to form a reply to the bizarre request._

"_I am now unarmed, as you can see, and I do not plan on stopping you. I am sure you do not believe me, but I am just as vulnerable as you. Watch."_

_He knelt down to pick Dodonpa's small, fallen dagger and gave himself a tiny cut in the palm of his hand. A trickle of crimson began dripping from his hand to the floor and he tossed the dagger aside._

"_Do you see?" The man suddenly hissed angrily. "This body is as weak as any other human body. I bleed, and I die, and I am at your mercy now."_

_Dodonpa still did not move, distrustful of the mysterious man. Even if what he had said before about being greater than a human was true, Dodonpa could tell that there was something he was not being told. The sight of his own blood seemed to be driving him crazy, a completely different persona to the calm, calculating person he had met just moments ago._

"_Make your decision…" The azure man growled low in his throat, the hiss still apparent in his voice. "Kill me now… or doom the world you know in favor of one that you will help me to rule. A world where no one will ever disrespect you again. A leader's… no, a king's life, awaits you. Which world do you choose?"_

_The looks Dodonpa had seen from his family and people returned to his memory, and he turned to the man with a resolute look._

"_I will help you. What do you need from me?"_

_The man grinned as he knelt to pick up his sword and place it in the sheath at his waist again. "Cut off all trade with Kalay first. I will also need you to donate considerable amounts of your wealth to help spread our influence. Then, you will attack and gain control of the town of Vault."_

_Dodonpa's face was stoic as he attempted not to show any fear. "My father will not allow me to halt our trade with Kalay…"_

"_The solution to that problem should be obvious. We all must learn to make sacrifices if we are to bring about a new world."_

_Dodonpa said nothing, and stared at the floor._

"_I realize that you may be concerned with your safety in all of this. That is why I have already set up an invisible group of spies throughout your city who will serve as your eyes and ears. I can guarantee you that you will not be so much as touched as you carry out our plans."_

_Dodonpa looked up, his face suspicious. "You did what? If they are 'invisible', then how do I know you won't be sending them after me when I least expect it?"_

"_Risks must also always be taken to ensure a new world." The man said casually. "If you need persuasion, I advise you to look in the third cell of the fortress' dungeon. The group of people that was sneaking in here to kill you will need to eat soon, after all. And they were people of this town, no less, so I doubt you would have seen it coming were it not for us."_

_Dodonpa stayed silent again as the man began walking toward the door. "I expect very favorable reports when I return."_

"_When will that be?"_

"_I do not know, just as you do not. So you had best get started immediately."_

_With a swish of his cloak, the azure man casually strode through the open door and shut it behind him. Dodonpa rushed to the door and pulled it open, but the man was gone, and the open eyes of his soldiers' corpses stared back at him, their empty glances almost accusatory.

* * *

_

The Lunpa lord finally stopped running as he reached the cell, and found a group of six brigands there. Glaring at them all, he yelled, "What are you doing? Are you not hearing the fighting in the upper levels? Are you just going to stand here all night or are you going to move your worthless skins and fight?"

"We've already fought them as hard as we could!" One brigand said, with obvious indignation in his voice which made Dodonpa glare. "The missing guards we reported have sided with the intruders! We've lost many men already, and they're heading this way now."

Dodonpa growled low in his throat before pulling out his blade. "Damn it… then release Toadonpa and we'll take refuge in this cell. Let them come and get their spines ripped out!"

"Yes, sir!"

One brigand ran towards the lever on the wall behind Dodonpa, but never got a chance to pull it. In one quick moment, he felt the stabbing pain of cold steel piercing his side and he was thrown against the nearest wall by an invisible force. He crumpled to the floor as he slowly began to bleed to death.

The thief's killer, a man in a black cloak, walked into the prison cell. He looked at the body of the now dead thief with the blade still in his side. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out, the silver blade stained with blood. Disregarding this, he merely sheathed it and turned to the bewildered group at the opposite side of the room. He then walked toward the lever on the wall that would unleash the monster of Lunpa.

He reached and pulled it, and the wall behind Dodonpa and his bandits slid open. A deafening roar was heard and Dodonpa grinned.

"You don't know what you've just done, do you? Toadonpa, attack!"

An answering roar was heard as the monster charged into the cell.

The Monster of Lunpa was indeed a suitable title for the appalling creature. As its darkly humorous name suggested, it was indeed a toad-like creature, but a huge monstrous one standing on its hind legs, transformed by an unknown force. Its skin was a scaly blue, with red spikes sticking out of the top of its head and down its back to the end of its tail. Huge clawed hands and feet with crimson nails, able to rip a man apart, were its organic weapons, not to mention its jagged teeth and its blood-red eyes, which had intimidated many of its victims with their hungrily insane gaze.

And yet, the cloaked man simply watched the monster get nearer to him, not even fidgeting in the slightest. As Toadonpa stopped in front of him, it swiftly lashed out with one of its claws with enough strength to behead the man. But the cloaked man dodged the creature's attack with ease by moving to the side, causing the monster to stumble forward, confused at the missed attack. The man then raised a hand and sent the monster flying into the cell wall with the invisible power he had used on his first victim. Toadonpa groaned as it began to pick itself up from the floor.

Shocked by how effortlessly the man had momentarily dispatched his monster, Dodonpa could only watch as the assailant spoke again, _"Dark Curse…"_

Dodonpa watched as the monster howled and screeched, twisting its body around on the floor in obvious agony. It was over in seconds, and when it stopped the monster slowly rose to its feet. With a low snarl, it raised its head and glared at Dodonpa and his thieves with completely black eyes.

To Dodonpa's horror, the monster charged towards them with a bloodcurdling shriek of rage. Toadonpa lashed out with its claw, pinning one of the thieves beneath it on the ground. It then lowered its head and clamped down on the man's head with its horrifyingly sharp teeth, killing him instantly. The closest brigand screamed in shock, but was silenced by the monster's other claw, which sliced his throat with its sharpened nails.

A sudden icy voice added to the terror filling the room,

"_Kill them all. Show no mercy."_

Dodonpa looked at the bodies of his dead soldiers and into the black pits that were once Toadonpa's red eyes. Was his once faithful creature going to turn on him? He stumbled backwards away from it, waiting for another enraged attack, but nothing happened. Rather, the creature ceased its sudden attack and moved away from the surviving men, resting against the wall as it continued to growl.

The only sound was footsteps coming from behind Dodonpa. He turned, and when he saw who was behind him, he knew that the shock he had received from seeing Toadonpa with a demon-like face was nothing compared to the shock he was feeling now. For before him, glaring at him with the same black demon eyes was his son, Donpappa.

"_Go," _said the voice.

Donpappa unsheathed his sword and assumed a battle stance, but Dodonpa didn't even move. He had harmed his son in the past without once thinking of repercussions, but now… he felt frozen with fear. The other thieves, however, raised their swords.

Donpappa charged at the remaining brigands and swung his sword at one. The thief parried and charged to stab him, only to be sidestepped by the young man, causing him to stumble. Donpappa then slashed the thief in the back, causing him to fall, gasping in pain. But his pain would soon end as Donpappa stabbed him in the side, splattering the ground with blood. The thief groaned as the pain increased for just a few seconds before he passed into an endless sleep.

Two thieves charged at Donpappa from behind, but he performed a perfect back flip over the two. He then charged in between the stunned duo and sliced one in the side while kicking the other in the stomach. He proceeded to stab the already wounded fighter in the chest, thus ending his suffering like his fallen comrade. He turned to the other downed fighter, who grabbed his blade and swung at Donpappa's head. But he merely ducked and delivered a powerful kick to the thief's head, finishing him by stabbing him on the ground.

He then turned to his father, who had been watching in horrifying silence, and smiled.

"Are you pleased with me now, father?" he said, his voice cold with uncharacteristic malice. "You always wanted me to be a ruthless killer, didn't you?"

His father stared in paralyzed horror, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. "What the hell are you…?"

Donpappa began to speak in a voice that was not his own. _"What we would call ourselves is irrelevant. You and your world would call us… demons."_

Dodonpa could only stare, now shaking uncontrollably with his fear.

Donpappa walked toward him and spoke again, and this time, his own voice escaped his mouth, "You have brought this on yourself. What you are feeling now is what I have felt all my life. I feel no remorse. Prepare to depart from this world, _father_…"

From behind his son, Dodonpa saw the man in the blue cloak. He could just barely see his face beneath the hood. Strands of equally blue hair slightly covered his face, which was chillingly and impenitently smiling.

Realizing that his end was at hand and that he had been doomed from the start, Dodonpa, the once feared Lord of Lunpa, began to cry. Tears of sadness, rage, and fear flowed from his eyes as he awaited death. What kind of death was this? Forsaken by everybody and killed by the son he had never truly acknowledged.

He wanted to tell them to stop. That he would change. That he could change. But as he looked into the face of his son, he knew that though he had used that very same excuse all his life, it would not save him now. He had always escaped punishments from his father with that excuse, and had always considered him foolish for actually forgiving him. Meanwhile, he had punished Donpappa for trying to help others, something he had never done, and his son never tried to escape the punishments. Rather, he accepted them.

Perhaps this was a fitting end... killed by his son who had always been considered weak in comparison to him, when in fact, he had always been stronger...

Donpappa swung the sword, beheading his father instantly. Blood splashed upon his unflinching face.

* * *

Two cloaked companions, followed by the survivors of the now destroyed Lunpa fortress, slowly walked through the secret cave of the town and into the bordering forest.

No one but them knew of the terrible events that took place within the walls of fortress.

And no one but them knew of the terror that now awaited one specific settlement. It had long been thought a safe haven, isolated from the war, but the only reason this sanctuary had never been destroyed was because it had never needed to be. But now had come the time of its destruction.

They were headed for the town of Vale.

Disclaimer: All characters, places, and anything else affiliated with Golden Sun do not belong to me, unless I create my own characters.


	2. Chapter 2

**_The Wrath of Dark Alchemy_  
Reflections: The Calm before the Storm**

A cold wind rustled the leaves of Tret, the revered guardian tree of the Kolima Forest, and his eyes opened slowly from his deep sleep. Sensing energy from his companion Laurel, his eyes looked to his right with a questioning glance before speaking in a guttural voice that held a degree of weariness. "Hrrooom… you have not found use for that power in a very long time. So you too have sensed the change…"

Laurel's eyes opened as the energy she had been emanating vanished. Her eyes looked to her left as she responded in a soothing, but tired voice. "The shadow has grown stronger without warning. Nature is withering… with the very presence of this power. Already I feel the sadness of the wood and the restlessness of the creatures, and its seal is far from broken."

"Have you been able to locate the heart of its power?"

"No. The shroud blinds me and leaves me in a pained state each time I attempt to discern its shape. Its strength can only mean that it is spreading along Angara much quicker than we anticipated."

"That is of no surprise…" Tret growled, suddenly angered. "Humankind and their trivial war have made it far too easy for the shroud to spread. Now they will all feel the pain they have brought upon themselves."

"They will not be the only ones to suffer. We too will be seized by its power soon…"

"Yes… that too has become apparent with the pain of our forest. This shroud and the power that cursed us in years past stem from the same source…" Tret shut his eyes for a few moments, feeling nothing but regret before speaking in a mournful tone. "Our forest… no, our world, is once again being pushed to the edge of destruction."

* * *

Bright moonlight cast a striking silvery glow over the surface of the majestic Karagol Sea. Small waves carried by a cold, but calming wind slowly drifted to the shores of the sea, creating a peaceful, natural ambience. Beneath the surface, all manner of aquatic life went about their lives, harmonious and diplomatic, guarded by the laws of nature, perhaps happy in the knowledge that all was well within the world.

An explosion sounded, the clashing of swords was heard, and bloodcurdling pained screams and angry roars of condemnation filled the air. Waves churned as ships collided and men and women were thrown from the decks into unforgiving and cruel waters. Their innate senses alerting them to the situation, the creatures of the sea fled, many of them seeing nothing but a strange blackness before simply drifting away lifeless. The moonlight that lit the way for those that battled went unnoticed.

On the shores of the Karagol, a small encampment of Tolbi soldiers listened to the distant raging battle. They spoke in hushed tones as their captains deliberated over their group's next move in a private tent. The speaking hushed a bit as a man with spiked blue hair emerged from the tent, clearly incensed by whatever had been said by the others.

The captain walked through the site without passing any glances to those around him. Gazes followed him as it became clear he was walking away from the camp and towards the sea. The retreating soldier stopped at the sandy shore of the Karagol and began to walk along it, making sure to stay far enough from the incoming water.

"Sean!" A voice called out behind him and he turned around to look at his old friend, Ouranos.

"You're back already?" He immediately inquired with a sharp tone, fearing the worst.

"Why, yes, I'm perfectly fine," Ouranos muttered. "It's not like I was in a war, or anything."

"Cut the crap, Ouranos, I'd like to deliver some good news to the captains for a change."

"You'd better hope they're merciful, then."

Sean was silent for a moment, trying to ignore his growing headache, before inquiring with dread, "What happened out there?"

Ouranos' irritancy began to fade as he saw how distressed his friend looked; the captains must really have been giving him hell this time, and his news would no doubt be even more of a burden. "We beat Lunpa to Alhafra, and the mayor accepted our price. He said he was going to provide us with a new fleet of sail ships, gave us some fresh supplies and even allowed us to use the town as a port while we looked around Osenia." The red-haired man scoffed slightly with a shake of his head before continuing. "When we got back, Lunpa closed in around us."

"Lunpa?" Sean asked, his face a mask of disbelief. "They took over Alhafra?"

Ouranos had a look of disgust on his face. "The greedy bastard didn't even try to fight," He growled low in his throat. "He accepted Lunpa's terms and pay, gave them the ships meant for us, and kept all of our money afterwards. We literally gained nothing on this trip. And it gets better; the new naval force has formed a blockade around Champa. Briggs and his men have set up their defenses, but he knows full well that they can't win. My men and I have already decided that we're going back to help him out however we can. We can't afford to lose the Eastern Sea."

Sean nodded, barely listening as all he could think of was the hopelessness of their situation. Ouranos frowned as he saw the empty look on his friend's face. "Tell you what; I'll break the news for you before I go. You go on your walk. Looks like you need to get away from them for awhile."

"They don't appreciate non-captains entering their meetings," Sean warned him, although Ouranos could hear a hint of amusement in his voice.

Ouranos shrugged boisterously with no sign of worry. "They know as well as I do that I could snap any one of them in two. Now go on. I'll deal with them." With that, he turned and walked towards the camp with a deliberate swagger in his step.

Sean could not help but smile as he watched his friend walk away. He made a mental note to apologize to him for his rudeness when he saw him later. After all, they both knew that neither of them would have survived long in this war without the other. Still, his brief feeling of camaraderie did nothing to change the sense of impending doom he felt, now that the situation had grown much direr for Tolbi. No allies, rapidly vanishing supplies, and a growing superpower led by Dodonpa. Unless something, anything, was done, Tolbi's hopes of putting an end to the fighting were now non-existent.

With a heavy sigh, he continued his walk, staring out at the sea, listening to the conflicting sounds of the current battle and the incoming water. He took his gaze from the sea and looked forward, only to see that he apparently wasn't the only one in need of solitude.

Sitting on the shore just a few feet away from him was another soldier that he had seen a few times but had never spoken to. As the blue haired man approached the soldier, he noted, as he always did whenever he saw him, how young he appeared to be. He couldn't be much older than sixteen. The young boy had red hair and a golden-brown vest that for some reason seemed familiar to him.

The young boy turned his head, showing no signs of surprise. He passed a quick glance at the man before turning away. "I'll return to the camp in a few minutes. I just wanted to be away from the others for a while."

Sean walked up beside the young soldier who seemed far off in thought. "We have something in common, then. Do you mind if I stay?"

The boy shook his head and Sean sat down on the sand next to him, once again looking out at the water. After a few seconds of silence between them, Sean noticed the boy directly at something in the shore. Following his gaze, Sean noticed several fish floating lifelessly in the incoming water, their bodies coated in a black sludge.

The boy spoke at last, "What do you suppose is all over them?"

Sean spoke with a somber tone. "Oil that we got from Loho. We told the men to use it to burn enemy ships when they were in close combat."

"Oh…" was all the boy could say in reply as he looked over the dead creatures with an expression Sean could not read. His face just seemed empty, devoid of any overt emotion. A look like that was ill-fitting for a boy of such a young age, and Sean found himself overcome with pity. Though he wanted to say something of comfort, he could think of nothing and stayed silent, returning his gaze to the dark waters of the sea.

There was a grim silence until Sean attempted to change the subject by enquiring about the boy's familiar looking vest. "Excuse me for asking, but where did you acquire that vest?"

The boy looked down at his attire for a second before answering, a new smile now on his face. "It belonged to my brother. He gave it to me before he left home a long while back and never returned, so I've worn it for a long time to respect his memory. He was a hero, and an inspiration to me." He looked to the blue-haired man. "Why do you ask?"

_A hero?_ Sean thought to himself, and as he looked at the teen's hair and eyes, he realized just why it had looked so familiar to him. "I saw a young traveler wearing it once. He had your hair and eyes…" He looked out over the Karagol again. "In fact, I met him briefly while traveling over this very sea, on a ship bound for Tolbi. I remember he helped to stop the attack of a huge Kraken that my friend and I couldn't defeat. I thought the ship was doomed when I was beaten, and he and a small group he was traveling with fought back. I was knocked out during most of the fight, but when I came to the monster was being thrashed. In the end, your brother struck the finishing blow. It was awe-inspiring to say the least. Unfortunately, neither he nor his friends received the credit they deserved for their battle. Everyone assumed it was one of the strong seamen on the ship. But I knew…"

He turned back to the boy, and smiled as he saw a brighter look on his face upon hearing his story. "I'd say your brother certainly deserved the respect you give him as a hero. You'd best hold on to that vest closely."

The boy nodded with a smile on his face to replace the grim emptiness Sean had seen earlier.

"Well, I guess I'd better be heading back." With that, Sean pushed himself up from the shore, and the boy nodded. Before he turned to leave, he looked back and asked, "By the way, I never asked what your name is?"

"Aaron," He replied. "And you're Sean, right?"

Sean nodded. "It's been good talking to you, Aaron. I guess I'll see you soon. Best not stay out too late." With that, the blue-haired ex-captain turned and walked back towards the camp.

After a few seconds had passed, Aaron decided that it was time for him to go back to the camp as well. But as he walked back the same path he had earlier, he found that he no longer felt as solitary and out-of-place as he had then.

* * *

_She looked up to the sky above Vale, which was beginning to darken rapidly. Ominous, black clouds covered the sky. No, not clouds… it was some mass of blackness that was forming above the town. Murmurs of fright and confusion replaced the quiet talk that had been all she could hear seconds ago. _

_The still silence was broken by a horrified painful scream, and she whirled around, eyes widening as she saw a man fall to the ground dead, struck by what appeared to a fireball that was the purest black in color._

_Chaos erupted as everyone began screaming in fear and agony as houses and markets were struck by dozens of black shapes that began to rain down from the clouds above. Before she began to run from the horrifying display, she realized that fireballs, shards of ice, giant swords of earthen energy, and lightning, all a ghastly shade of black, striking various areas of the town with deafening roars of thunder following each lightning strike. As she ran, her eyes were repeatedly blinded by the bright flashes of elemental light that followed each collision and lightning strike with the ground, signifying the objects she had seen to be a form of elemental power._

_Soon, it seemed the unnatural storm was over, and the shroud of blackness was gone, replaced by normal looking storm clouds. The Valean villagers, fearing another attack, began to run to the north gate of the town for the safety of the caves. But as they neared the gate, brigands of Lunpa began to swarm into the town, forcing them back. The black-eyed demons cackled, preparing to hack and tear at all human flesh in sight with no remorse or discrimination._

_The clouds desperately allowed water to relentlessly strike the ground with a deep rumbling sound. Enraged lightning seemed to flash with every life that was stolen. The destructive fire dissipated by the command of the elemental companions. Meanwhile, the earth could have rejoiced as the rain washed away the blood that had been spilled upon it._

_Then she stood in darkness, seeing a lone figure standing far away from her. She tried to run towards him, but she could not move, and he appeared to be moving closer to her without actually walking. Images flashed through her mind as he neared her… she saw her friends, saw them screaming in agony… she saw towns and cities burning in flames, flames that changed from a bright orange to the darkest black right before her eyes…_

* * *

The room was fairly dim, the only light coming from a small oil lamp beside the bed. Sheba sat on the side of her bed, not planning on falling asleep anytime soon. The images of her nightmare of the previous night played over and over in her mind and she was unable to stop the shivering of her body. A few feet away from her on another cot, she heard the distressed movement and small whimpering of her sleeping friend, Jenna.

Getting up from her bed, Sheba began to walk over to her friend to rouse her from what was most certainly a terrible nightmare, but she was stopped when she heard someone call her name in a hushed whisper. Turning around, fearful for a second, she relaxed as she saw Felix standing in the doorway of the room. However, she felt a tinge of fear as she noticed how dangerous he looked in the dimness of the room. His hair was a mess, his clothes were tattered, his face stoic, and his eyes looked like black holes due to how far she was from him.

His eyes looked over the sleeping form of his sister, looking sad. He looked back at Sheba and tilted his head to the side, indicating that he wanted to speak to her outside.

Sheba nodded, and Felix turned to walk through the dark house and out of sight. Sheba felt torn between following him and waking Jenna, but as she started to reach for Jenna's shoulder, she pulled her arm back, feeling guilty. _She'll be fine… it's just a nightmare,_ Sheba told herself. _She's too strong to let that get to her. You know that…_

Nodding as if agreeing with herself, she turned around and walked through the darkened house. The feeling of being lost and helpless in the dark brought back the memory of her nightmare and she shivered, as if expecting to see his face appear before her with those empty black eyes. But her eyes quickly adjusted to the total darkness and she found the door of the house. Opening it and walking outside, she quietly shut the door as Felix turned to face her, having been looking over the town he had long since left behind.

"How is she?" Felix spoke as she approached, his voice holding a degree of sadness.

"Sick, if you must know." Sheba said crossly, immediately feeling guilty of her tone, but she pressed on. "Of course, you'd know that if you were actually around when she needs you most. How long do you plan on playing the lone hero? Isn't this exactly what you promised Jenna you'd never do again years ago? I'm really worried about her, Felix!"

Felix nodded his head, his eyes downcast as he accepted every comment. "I know, Sheba. I don't deserve sympathy for this, but please understand me when I say this is for her safety. She's the most important person in the world to me, and that's why she can't know what I'm doing, even if it means breaking my promises. I couldn't trust her not to put herself in danger on my behalf."

"Danger, huh?" Sheba scoffed as she shook her head in exasperated disbelief. "You're not doing a good job of convincing me that we shouldn't know about this."

"I just can't tell you, Sheba. Not now, at least. It's for your own good to remain ignorant of what I'm doing."

"I still don't understand, after all this time. Are you going to attack Dodonpa or something?" Sheba asked.

"What I'm doing is far more dangerous than that." Felix said, staring into the night to avoid making eye contact with her. "That should be all you need to know to understand how important it is that she does not get involved, under any circumstances."

Sheba shook her head bitterly again, looking at the ground. "Fine," She said, still angry. "But you will explain everything to us eventually. I'm getting tired of playing the uninformed idiot in these nightly meetings."

"It's not my intent to make you feel that way, Sheba."

Lavender eyes met brown ones. "…I know. I'm sorry, Felix. I just don't like knowing I can't help you."

"You are helping me, Sheba. Knowing that you're here with Jenna is more than I could ever ask of you."

"Maybe, but I can only stand in for you for so long. You're the one she needs right now, Felix."

"I know…"

An uncomfortable silence, then Felix spoke again, worry present in his voice. "You said she was sick. Is it serious?"

"Just a fever. It's fading, but she still needs some rest. It's kind of hard for me to believe sometimes. When I think of Jenna, I don't think of someone who needs bed rest." Sheba felt a bit awkward trying to make casual conversation, but Felix smiled at her comments. Sheba couldn't help but think to herself that it was the first smile she had seen in days.

"What about Vale?" Felix asked grimly, his smile quickly fading. "Is it as bad as before?"

"The situation's improved thanks to Piers. He still has his boat on a river close by, and he's been gathering from and trading supplies with other surviving towns. I guess things are about as good as they'll get for a while now."

"These things take time. They will get better soon."

"Soon…? Why do you say that?"

"…It's just what I believe. That's all."

Something about his tone sounded unnatural to Sheba, like he was trying to cover something up, but she let it pass. She knew any questions she had would not be answered. As silence reigned again, she remembered the horrific dream, and her face fell into a frown.

Felix looked concerned once more. "What is it?"

"I had a nightmare last night. I haven't been able to sleep since, and I've been thinking about it all day."

"What was it?"

"I don't even know how to begin explaining it. I saw Vale at first, and everything looks normal, but then I saw it being destroyed… by some bizarre form of Psynergy, from what I gather. And then, Lunpa thieves started charging into Vale and started killing everybody…"

As Sheba was looking at the ground as she relayed the frightful images she had seen, she didn't notice the immediate look of fear on Felix's face as she spoke of the strange Psynergy. "What does this Psynergy look like? Can you remember?"

"It was a storm of spells, as if a hundred Adepts were attacking. From what I could see, the spells worked just like the Ragnarok, Fireball, Plasma, and Prism spells. But, they were… black… like shadows of themselves or something. I really can't explain it…"

She looked up to see Felix looking confused, but she could see a hint of fear in his face. "What's wrong?"

Rather than answering, Felix turned away from her, a cold, distant look on his face. Sheba raised an eyebrow at his behavior. "Felix, what is it?"

"Sheba, listen…" He said, looking like he was speaking to the night. "If I don't make it back, Jenna's going to need you. I'm depending on you to be there for her. Goodbye…" With that, he suddenly took off at a sprint, running into the night.

Stunned, Sheba wanted to give chase, but he was moving too fast for her to catch up with him. His last words stayed with her, and she shivered. What was wrong with him? If what he was doing was life-threatening, why did he not want his friends to help him? And why had he left so quickly at the mention of her dream?

Sheba sighed and was about to go into the house, but decided against it. She was not planning on sleeping, and it was probably best to leave Jenna to rest for right now. Thoughts of the violent imagery of her nightmare returned to her, as she began to walk through the village of Vale, needing time to think. She was not even sure why the dream would not leave her mind. She supposed it was because even though she had had nightmares in the past, none she could remember had ever been as vivid and clear as the one she saw. She looked around at all the houses she had seen be torn apart in her dream, and shook her head sorrowfully as she recalled all of the pain the people of Vale had survived to create them.

Ever since the town had been reconstructed nearby the site of the old Vale, nothing but pain had followed. The reconstruction had never been completed, however, as the war of Lunpa and Kalay had immediately begun to break out across Angara, and any help that could have been had from neighboring towns would never come. Meanwhile, the Wise One had requested an audience with Isaac and had revealed to him that he had been given a portion of Alchemy's power by the Wise One himself. Thus, he would soon have to leave Vale to live a solitary life for a short time, as the massive power he now held would be too dangerous in its infancy stages. Unable to choose differently, Isaac had accepted the Wise One's task, but fate apparently had decided he would not leave his home without a few appalling memories. Just as he had prepared to leave, the army of Lunpa mounted a vicious assault on Vale, raiding the town of the last provisions it had to offer.

The Adepts had had to stand as the only defense of the beleaguered town. It would be the last time all of them stood together as a team.

All of the Valean Adepts had lost every member of their families on that horrible day, except for Garet and Isaac who still had their brother and father respectively. But Isaac himself had disappeared directly after the invasion, and she knew why. She had felt when his power erupted in his rage at the attackers, and when it had dissipated, many invaders were later found dead, as well as many villagers. At the loss of many of their men, the Lunpa army had retreated, but neither they nor the remaining villagers truly realized what had happened. She could not find him afterward, and soon it was declared that he had left the town after the army's attack had ended. After helping the town recover from the assault, Ivan and Mia had both left as well to look after their respective hometowns, and Garet had left to fight in the war against Lunpa. None of them had ever returned.

The remaining members of the team had become divided amongst themselves after the attack. Felix had become cold and distant to the others after his parents had been killed, and had eventually left Vale as well, keeping contact only with Sheba on occasion. Jenna had become confined to her house in a deep depression, her strong, outgoing personality now only a memory to Sheba. Piers, like Sheba, had been changed the least by what had happened due to having no specific connection to Vale, but had nonetheless been affected by the pain of his friends, understanding the loss of beloved family members. Sheba barely saw him these days, as when he was not away gathering provisions for the town, he stayed secluded in his ship, solitary as he had always been.

For the next two years, the remaining people of Vale had adopted a cold attitude due to their strife. They had become unfriendly towards each other, and scorned the Adepts that had tried so hard to protect them, sometimes even blaming them for their suffering. Isaac in particular was the target of many foul words and insulting claims after he had left them all. Sheba could not understand why the people of such a once peaceful town would become so bitter and angry. She knew they were only human, but surely such terrible times called for unity rather than discourse? Admittedly, she often felt bitter that Isaac had left so abruptly, without even staying to help with the reconstruction, but she always pushed those feelings away. After all, he had been responsible for the deaths of many human beings. She couldn't imagine how mortified he must have felt. But the villagers were not nearly so forgiving.

She supposed it was easy to say that the war had changed everybody. But that line of thought only brought more pain, because to her, that only meant that the instinct to be distrusting and hateful was inside of these people all the time. The war had simply brought their true colors to light, and the masks of goodness she had become accustomed to seeing had been lifted. Never had they thought of uniting to be at peace. It was as if they preferred to be divided instead, so that they could fight and kill for their own survival, all others be damned. Such ignorance and selfishness angered Sheba to no end.

She knew that she could not expect the world to right itself, but she also knew that even if she and the rest of the Adepts were to go out and use every last bit of their strength to fight against the growing powers of Lunpa, Kalay, and every other town that had allied with them, not only would they eventually be killed once their energies were used up, but their powers would not end the hatred of their warring world. The fighting would only continue unless they were to take control of Weyard, and there was nothing to be gained from that. And no matter how many times she told herself that it was selfish to feel this way, that she should have hope, the crushing helplessness that accompanied these cynical thoughts never faded.

The Wise One's words on the fateful day of the journey's end floated back to her, _"It is inevitable. In time, one man will seek to rule over all. It is human nature, inescapable."_

Sheba stopped walking as she dwelled on those words, and slowly looked up at the sky, not staring at anything. Again, the grim feelings of hopelessness began to fill her, and she clenched her fists tightly, wishing she could just scream. Finally, she spoke, her voice thick with contempt.

"You were right," she spoke into the night. "You were right. We didn't accomplish anything. You win. Take your victory and keep hiding, you worthless bastard…"

She felt her eyes dampen as she spoke such cutting words, and tried to rub them dry which only caused more tears to fall. Eventually, she could hold back her true feelings no longer, and she collapsed to her knees with her hands over her face, sobbing loudly for a world she had failed.

* * *

The figure cloaked in dark blue surveyed the large group that was spread out in the clearing behind him. The former thieves of Lunpa and soldiers of Kalay were all sitting, waiting expectantly for an order, while the beast of Lunpa behind them, slept soundly. It seemed, the azure figure noted with amusement, that his partner who had cursed these souls had decided to release Lunpa's monster from his curse's control, showing that he had a greater respect for the monster than he did for any of the humans under his control. They certainly were alike in that sense.

Looking around the rest of the clearing, he took note of the other members of the covenant, silently awaiting the call for their nightly meeting to begin. A man wearing a mask painted in shades of green and brown was sitting as he leaned against a tree, his right arm propped up on his right knee, apparently miles away in deep contemplation. Two women, both wearing mauve cloaks woven in silk, spoke silently in hushed voices so that no one could hear their words. There was another man in a cloak of a bloody crimson hue, quietly speaking words of reassurance to the silent soldiers for the coming task ahead.

Finally, there was a man that was cloaked in robes of a slightly lighter hue of blue than those worn by the observer. No one seemed to acknowledge his presence, which he didn't mind. He enjoyed working alone and in obscurity, never letting anyone know what side he was truly on. Seeing the crimson man's actions, the light-blue figure approached him, catching the attention of the silent masked man, who watched with a sigh that signified his understanding of what was about to occur.

"I am surprised at your compassion, Garet, considering your motivation for even being here…" The cerulean man spoke. "I doubt they can even comprehend what you are telling them, so why waste your time?"

Garet regarded the other man with an angered look. He spoke, his tone harsh, yet composed, like a tranquil fire that had not yet begun to rage. "Cursed or not, they are human beings, Alex. I realize how unfamiliar the concept of camaraderie is to you, but my memory of it has not yet been fully driven away. They are now bound to our cause, and they at least deserve to be treated as our allies, not slaves. Besides, I'm speaking only to the soldiers, not the thieves. I've no use or sympathy for them."

"Such flawed reasoning," Alex admonished, shaking his head in a mocking fashion, enjoying the debate he had sparked. "Are you saying the amount of destruction and killing that was caused by some of these very soldiers is not deserving of punishment, despite being just as guilty of brutally murdering innocents in blind rage just as Lunpa's brigands have? For that matter, how exactly do you justify painting all of the thieves with the same brush? Are you saying they are all villains? What a black and white world you must live in…"

"Stop talking to me like I know nothing about war when I'm the only one of us that has actually fought," The Fire Adept growled in his throat before once again speaking in a composed manner. "I never claimed to understand the motivations of every soldier. I understand the pain of being lost in rage, but I have no sympathy for those who choose to live lives of crime."

The blue-haired man sneered coldly. "Your logic seems to stem from the idea that people are deserving of compassion, but only so long as they share the beliefs and morals that you deem to be right. So enlighten me of your justification of this reasoning, please, as your usual cynical mutterings that an ignorant, maladjusted child could conjure are hardly what I would call proof of your so-called experience. Or do you believe that because you entered the fray, you have all the knowledge, and the rest of us should be honoring you?"

"You've always been content to wallow in your own supposed superiority, so why should I waste my time arguing with you?" The fiery man spat before turning away. "Again, just remember, of the two of us, I'm the only one who's fought for others, and I've expected no thanks for it. What exactly have you done for the world besides watch it collapse?" With that said, he walked away to one end of the clearing, angrily looking away into the night.

Alex quietly scoffed, though it was clear to everyone watching that he had no reply, before turning away and walking towards the tree he had rested against earlier. The masked man watched as he did and sighed again with a shake of his head. Meanwhile, the two women, who had been silent as they listened to the argument, resumed their quiet conversing.

"Such meaningless disputes," said the soft voice of the younger of the two women, shaking her head in disgust. "Do they not see that nothing is accomplished from warring with one another? Especially they, who both want nothing more than to destroy the Alchemist…"

The other woman's eyes, which had been known to perpetually hold a degree of grim sadness, softened slightly as she turned her gaze to her partner and spoke in a calm, yet tired voice that spoke of wisdom. Hers was the voice of a clairvoyant.

"Old wounds seldom fade, and theirs is a hatred that began years ago. By a cruel chance of fate, their goal to destroy the Alchemist is the only trait they share, and it keeps them from destroying each other. Otherwise, they are naturally opposites in every way, from their ideals to their very elements." Her voice then lowered to a whisper. "But beyond that, it has been clear from this group's inception that it is not trust that has held us together, but our need to further our own individual goals. Naturally, this fuels the fires of their mutual disgust, for they too know that only one of us can hold that power in the end."

"Should we know what outcome we would rather face; be it destruction or salvation? If so, then I am worried that I do not."

"I imagine most people who live through times such as these would feel the same way. I myself have felt both contentment and guilt at the thought of us all destroying each other, and returning the world to its natural balance. But for all of our failings, I always find myself arriving to the conclusion that we do not deserve destruction. We have not yet declined so far…"

The younger woman did not reply for a few moments, seemingly content to stare at the ground before looking back up at her companion. "Well, it does not matter. It is of little importance to me."

The seer looked at her with a tiny hint of surprise in her gaze. "Our fates mean nothing to you?"

"Fate itself means nothing to me any longer. If I still believed myself to be a slave to the power of fate, then I would not be here with you, nor would I have come to discover the happiness I now feel." She accentuated this fact by covertly grasping the other woman's hand, eliciting a private smile.

The observer stayed silent as he watched, amused at the image before him. None of the members of this dark order trusted each other enough to even be close to one another. This would work to his advantage. However, he knew, with a slight sense of apprehension, if he was to make a single mistake, and they learned of his plan for them, they certainly would unify against him. He would have to proceed carefully…

As he pushed away his thoughts, he suddenly smiled as he sensed the presence of his partner, the man who had aided him in the infiltration of Lunpa. "What kept you?" He inquired silently.

"Personal business," The other man replied in the same world-weary voice he always had. "But now, we are ready to commence."

At his words, the other members of this dark cult began to converge in a circle, as the soldiers and thieves watched with no sign of emotion on their blank faces.

The man cloaked in black began the meeting by speaking first. "As you know by now, the dark star of Jupiter has been stolen from us by the werewolf Maha. You have been summoned earlier than expected because we will have to make changes to our original plan."

The man cloaked in blue was silent for a few seconds, awaiting any further words from the other leader, but he said nothing more. As he prepared to speak, the wind picked up, slightly breaking the silence as if creating a chilling atmosphere for the man's words. He cast a look in the direction of the clairvoyant woman as he spoke. "You have informed us that you have foreseen the early return of the Alchemist, correct?"

She nodded to him in confirmation, as Garet silently clenched his fists in rage, his sudden show of anger going unnoticed by all. The masked man said nothing, seemingly miles away due to his hidden face.

Alex suddenly spoke up, not even attempting to hide a tone of suspicion in his voice. "Then, if you do not mind my asking, how is it that you did not foresee the stealing of the star?"

The younger of the two women glared at him and drew her breath indignantly as her partner placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from lashing out. "As I have explained to you before," The older woman said with a cold voice, narrowing her eyes at him. "The ability to anticipate future events does not make one omniscient. The future is full of simultaneous events and is just as much in motion as the present. I was focused on the return of the Alchemist and thus did not foresee the stealing of the star. If I had anything to hide, I would not have revealed the Alchemist's return. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Water Adept gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I suppose, but it is more than a little coincidental… what with the disappearance of the star that is aligned with your elements. It would be too easy for you to allow Maha to take the star, especially since he was last sighted in your brother's hometown."

"Enough," The dark-blue leader said, rendering Alex silent. "This is not about blame. The point is that his resurfacing and the disappearance of the star are obviously connected, and so we believe that the alchemist already knows of us. Obviously, this will complicate our plans, but the result will remain the same. We will draw him here with an attack on Vale, and he will soon after be a strong, new ally to our cause."

"What are you talking about?" Garet growled. "Allying with Isaac wasn't what you promised me! If you think I'm letting him slip by this time, you're greatly mistaken." The masked man looked toward him with a vicious glare.

"Wrong as usual, I am afraid," Alex interrupted in an almost lazy tone. "Your petty vendetta will not interfere with our destined conflict. If I am feeling generous when the time comes, I shall leave him for you to dispose of when I am finished with him, but only then."

"You, of all people, are accusing me of holding a petty vendetta, when you can barely hide your jealousy of his grip on Alchemy?"

"Do not speak as if either of you have the power to defy my orders," The dark-azure man spoke darkly, his very being giving off a cold and frightful air. "Do not forget who is in control... who has been in control all these years. Both of you will get the chance to fight him when and if I say so, but until then, you will keep silent."

Garet seemed to give off a contrasting air of angry heat, as if to challenge the other man.

"That is enough," The man in black finally interrupted. "You three will not derail the focus of this meeting any longer. The alchemist will be brought to our side through the curse. What happens to him once he has served his purpose is another issue. Settle that pointless dispute elsewhere." With that, the argument was over, but Garet sent the man in black a glare more heated than the looks he had sent to the two men he had just argued with.

After a tense silence, Alex spoke up. "But our chances of taking him under the curse are slim, almost nonexistent. To corrupt the power of Alchemy will be no easy task, unless he is put into a position where his focus is lost. I assume that is the plan?"

"Indeed," the dark blue man said with a confident tone before turning to the masked man. "That will be your job. You will bring those closest to him before me during our attack on Vale. You will catch them off balance while they defend the town. Until then, you will remain here with our soldiers."

The expressionless mask did nothing to hide its wearer's anger. "That makes both of the deals I made with you completely worthless. You promised me no harm would ever befall them or the town."

"I also told you that if the time came, personal sacrifices on your part would have to be made. Well, that time has come, and this is a sacrifice you will have to make. You agreed to those terms, so there will be no backing out of our arrangement now."

"But why do we need to draw his attention by attacking the town at all if he's already on his way?"

"I have foreseen that he would return to Angara, but not that he would meet us in battle," The clairvoyant woman answered. "I believe then, that the purpose of the attack is to ensure that he walks into our trap. Although I cannot say I condone the idea myself."

"The town will survive," The leader spoke with an uncaring tone. "The assault will catch the Alchemist's remaining allies off-guard so that they may be used to bait him into our trap once you bring them to us. Once he is under our control and the dark star of Venus is in our possession, your friends will be freed."

The masked man nodded his head, the dark-brown eyes behind the mask never losing their anger as he stared at the leader of the group. "Alright… it's done, then."

With that, the dark azure-cloaked man nodded back and turned to face the group. "Before we make our attack, we will have to make sure the rest of the stars cannot be found for now." He focused his gaze on Alex as he revealed a Mythril bag he had been concealing in his cloak, beckoning him to take it. "I am entrusting the Mercury Star to you. You are to take it to Conservato. It will be safe under the Senate's watchful gaze."

Alex raised an eyebrow at this as he took the bag. "May I ask why we do not simply convert the Mercury Lighthouse right now?"

"As I have said before, my reasons for waiting will be revealed soon. Until then, you will do as I say."

Alex sighed and nodded. "If I must, then you may consider it done."

The cloaked man then turned to Garet.

"As for you, you will go to the Lunpa encampment by the Karagol Sea. Gather the Veiled Sentry and begin a search for Maha in the forests bordering Kalay. If he is found, I want you only to apprehend him, not kill him. Then bring him to me."

Garet raised an eyebrow. "How do you know he is still in Angara?"

"As was touched upon earlier, I have been receiving reports from my spies in Kalay that he has been sighted numerous times in the forests, and has even entered the Kalay fortress. He has yet to find a way off the continent, and he must not be allowed to escape. If he is as intelligent as we think, he will have hidden the star by now. If he is killed, then we will be blind to its whereabouts…"

He then turned to the two women. "This brings us to your task. Both of you will go to Kalay and search the fortress for the star. If it is not found, bring the Jupiter Adept who resides there before me as well. If Maha has truly been to Kalay, then that Adept is the only one who could possibly have any connection to the dark star of Jupiter. We cannot risk the Alchemist acquiring new allies."

"Understood," The seer responded, ignoring the worried look of her partner as she sent a particularly scathing look in Alex's direction.

"Do you all fully understand what you are to do?"

All present nodded their heads, and the leader smiled. "We have never been as close as we are now to attaining our victory. Soon, Weyard will be healed of all its pain. Tomorrow, we will reconvene here in the morning… except you." He narrowed his eyes at Garet, whose look of surprise immediately changed to one of indignant anger.

"What? Why?"

"You have an important mission already. If you find Maha tonight, however, you may join us. In fact, I may even let you be the one to intercept the Alchemist."

Garet could see no alternative. "Fine, I'll deliver the werewolf to you as soon as possible."

"Then this meeting is finished. Be on your way." With that, the dark-azure figure shut his eyes, and with a burst of Psynergy, he warped away from the clearing.

The man in black then turned around and walked out of the clearing without a word until he was out of sight. The two women left immediately as well, headed towards their destination at a sprint. As he prepared to leave, Garet gave the masked man a malicious scowl and spoke, "Did you have something to say before, Felix?" When no answer was given, he smirked. "That's what I thought. Keep hiding behind that stupid thing." The Mars Adept took off at a sprint towards his own destination, disappearing into the night.

Then, Felix and Alex were left alone with the silent army, and Alex turned to his last remaining companion and shook his head irreverently. "Why _do_ you hide behind such an ugly thing, Felix? I know you are not trying to fool anyone."

The brown-haired man turned his head slightly to look at the blue-haired man while he spoke. "I'm ashamed of showing my face when I'm present at these meetings. I will not look upon familiar faces of people who once called me a hero while I associate with this group, even if they are a part of it as well."

"I see. I take it your other mask will soon be removed as well?"

Felix narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired man. "I suppose I have no choice now."

"If I were you, I would warn your friends to just escape from what will inevitably occur. But they would never so readily abandon the Valeans, would they?"

"I haven't abandoned them, either, Alex," Felix snapped. "Not like Garet… or Isaac for that matter…"

"I did not say anything, Felix, you did." Alex responded with a composed smile. "It seems you still, after all this time, have not found it in you to do away with the prison of your personal attachments as I have, and yet you went ahead and signed his blood contract so readily? I always thought you were smarter than that…"

"What would you have had me do, Alex? You think they would have let me go after refusing? I'd be no match for both of them. Besides, don't forget that I was still reeling from the loss of my family, and it is because of that that his promises swayed me. I was young; I wanted everyone to pay for the pain that I suffered. That old mindset of mine is the only thing I regret, but I won't apologize for trying to keep my friends safe while spying on and trying to impede his plans."

"Courageous of you, no doubt… I suppose all I can do is wish you luck in your endeavor."

Felix narrowed his eyes again, this time in confusion. "Alex, why are you encouraging me when we have opposing goals?"

"Do not worry. I am not planning to stab you in the back. I simply see your personal task, as well as everyone else's, to be beneficial to my own plans to keep him away from Dark Alchemy's full potential."

"If that's true, then why did you draw attention to Hama just now and attempt to label her as the traitor?"

"I was helping his little witch hunt along," Alex replied. "For now, I am going to need his trust on my side."

"What are you talking about?"

"Surely you could see that he was trying to weed out the wolf in sheep's clothing by giving us all tasks that specifically work against our interests. It seems Maha's betrayal has helped him to realize that his plan will fail if he does not watch his partners more carefully."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Oh, use your brain, Felix. First of all, he told Hama to bring her brother before him to test her loyalty to the cause. Whether he planned to do this before I put attention on to her is anyone's guess and one I doubt, considering he did not even know that that Jupiter Adept was her brother until I mentioned it. He left the Mercury Star in my possession to see if I would attempt to convert the lighthouse against his orders, and he is no doubt at the lighthouse right now waiting for me to try. He is shrewd, to say the least, but he has not fooled me. And why do you think he gave Garet instructions not to aid in the attack? Because not only does the attack on Vale work against both of your interests, but Garet being kept away from his best chance at attacking Isaac himself is double the motivation to betray his orders."

"Garet didn't even say a word about Vale's safety," Felix retorted. "His only concern is when he gets to go after Isaac."

"Well, far be it from me to defend the honor of that idiot, but I am quite sure he is just as conflicted about Vale's fate as you are. However, unlike you, he does not have the excuse of spying on the enemy to keep Weyard safe. Do you think the others would just welcome him back with open arms if they knew what he intended to do with Isaac?"

Felix did not speak for a moment, the anger in his eyes fading. "I suppose… his situation is a lot like the one I found myself in years ago."

Alex shook his head, frowning. "I would not go that far. No matter how you may feel about it, you had a noble cause to fulfill, Felix. Garet does not. Nor do I, for that matter, but I do not pretend to like he does."

"You mean using the attack on Vale to further your own goals?"

"In a word, yes. Glare all you want, Felix, but I do not care what happens to Vale or the rest of the team for that matter. The way I see it, if the rest of them betray him as you will, then I will be free of all suspicion until the time is right, and if they don't, then his attention will be placed on you as the sole traitor. Either way, my plans get a push forward."

"So you intend to follow his orders?"

"For now, I have no choice until I find out what his intentions with all the stars are, and why he is holding us back. There is too much at stake to try to betray him right now."

Felix shook his head slightly in disbelief. "You really haven't changed at all, Alex. You are still using everyone to your advantage, and we both know how well that worked out the first time."

"And as we both also know, if it were not for the Wise One, I would have succeeded."

"That doesn't make what you did any less dangerous. You don't know what he and his partner are truly capable of. If you managed to plan this entire thing out, how do you know that they haven't as well? They could be manipulating you as you once did to us."

Alex looked around for a second, as if expecting to see the aforementioned partner listening in on them, and responded in a voice that Felix noticed was slightly lower in volume. "You may be right about that much. His partner is the only one who I still do not understand fully. He does not seem to share the same drive for Dark Alchemy's unleashing, but he is far too elusive for me to be sure. If he were to take action against me, I admit I probably would not expect it. However, I am too far into this now, so there is really nothing I can do except watch and wait for everything to play itself out."

There was a moment of silence before Alex prepared to warp himself away. "Well, as I said, I wish you luck, Felix. It is all I can and will give you."

"Alex, wait," Felix said, stopping Alex from leaving. "If your plans do work, will you really try to take Dark Alchemy for yourself?"

"I have not crawled away from death to let my chances slip away now."

"Then you understand that I will have to fight you when the time comes."

"I look forward to it. Farewell, Felix." With that, the Water Adept finally disappeared in a burst of light and Felix was left alone to his thoughts.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Golden Sun.

No, I most certainly did not put this story off for three years. Stop talking nonsense. But seriously, hopefully those who have read this story before (all three of you who remain) the first fifty times I uploaded it (pretentious idiot that I was) have been thrown for a loop with all the twists I'm making and the characters I'm adding. I hope it keeps your interest, despite my obvious problem with writing credible dialogue. I can guarantee that this one will stay up.

And finally, while it doesn't mean much now, a huge thanks to the first reviewer of this story, as well as anyone taking the time to read this. This is ClairvoyantMoonchild, really wishing he had thought of the title _Dark Dawn_ first for this story, signing off.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Wrath of Dark Alchemy  
****Purification: The Breaking of the Dark Covenant**

One is "good". One is "evil".

One is a "hero". One is a "villain".

One basks in the "light". One lurks in the "dark".

Yet the only true difference lies in the words used to define them.

* * *

The man in black stood alone and silent atop a large hill, allowing him to overlook the immediate lands of Angara surrounding him. He stood with a sense of purpose and importance, reflecting on the mission that had been forced upon him. Yet he could not help but notice that there was nothing in his surroundings to suggest that he held any inherent importance. He held within his hands the ability to alter all that he saw, to control the very building blocks of the world around him. Yet the flowing rivers, the blowing winds, the strong earth, and the burning magma far beneath his feet took no notice of him. And nor did the skies, the oceans, or the mountains.

_Meaningless_, he thought to himself. _Insignificant. Purposeless. Empty._

He was fascinated with the words of humans that he had begun to recollect over the years. There were so many to describe his true standing in this world. But many people could be called such cutting things, and he was obviously not like them. Of all the words he liked to use to describe himself, his favorite was shadow. It was not a word one generally used to describe oneself, but it was too appropriate for him not to use. An image without a true distinguishing appearance to call its own. Yes, he quite liked that word.

He turned slowly to the sound of footsteps to see the young Lunpa boy that had fallen victim to his curse during the siege of the town's fortress. Having telepathically summoned him, the enshrouded figure did not regard the young visitor with any sign of surprise. The boy's eyes were still as black as night, and there was no expression on his face. He stood as still as a statue before the man cloaked in shadow, awaiting any form of command.

But the man did not issue an order. Instead, rings of blackness with a purple aura surrounded him as his body radiated with elemental energy. Then the energy died down and the man looked at the boy for a few moments, his usually emotionless eyes showing a sign of remorse for a split-second. He shut his eyes and his body began to emit waves of his mental energy once more; this time the black rings that emanated from his form did not possess any glow around them, making them nearly impossible to see in the night. Both were silent until the boy let out a gasp at the same time as the disappearance of the rings of energy. He stepped away from the man in surprise, and looked around fearfully, confused as to where he was. His eyes were no longer devoid of the blackness that had been present only seconds earlier.

After looking around in confusion, the boy looked back at the man in black and continued to step back, fearing that the man would once again use his frightening power and take control of him once more. A few seconds passed, and the look of fear on Donpappa's face changed to one of recognition. "It's you…" He spoke in a voice slightly above a whisper.

Without a reply, man in black turned away from him and continued to seemingly stare into space. "Go now," He said in his monotonous voice after a few seconds. "You are no longer apart of this. Go wherever you see fit."

Silence. "Wait…" Donpappa took a hesitant step towards the dark man. "Why're you letting me go?"

The man did not reply for a moment. Seconds of uncomfortable silence passed between them before he finally spoke, "I do not know."

The young soldier was not satisfied with the answer, but decided not to push the point any further. There was still something unsettling about this man, but there was also much he wanted and needed to know.

"Did I really… did I… kill him? My father?"

"The Lunpa lord is dead, yes. Slain by your own hand."

"But, you made me do it… didn't you?" Even to Donpappa, it sounded like a weak denial, but was he really wrong?

"My power made you incapable of turning away from the task, but your hatred of him is what gave you strength. Such is the design of the curse you were placed under."

"Dark Curse…" Donpappa whispered to himself, recalling what had been said before he had lost control of his own mind. "What is it?" He knew the question was foolishly vague; he did not even know what the nature of the aforementioned curse was. But the man seemed to have been prepared to answer such a question.

"A power that makes you a slave not only to the one that ensnares your mind, but a slave to your most basic, violent desires that all human beings attempt to rise above. The more aggressive a man… the more powerful the effect."

None of the man's explanation was making sense to Donpappa, but he knew he obviously could not contradict him after what had just happened. "You can tell me all of this, but not why you are letting me go?"

"That is correct. Unless you would rather remain a cursed being, you would do well to leave now." The words signified a threat, but the man did not even sound like he had the ability to muster a menacing tone.

An uncomfortable silence settled over them again for a moment. "Where do I go now?"

"Wherever you please. It is of little consequence whether you remain with us or leave us."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see. Or perhaps you will not. I can not tell you myself."

With that, the man turned and sprinted away from Donpappa. The young soldier watched the dark figure depart into the shadows of forest trees. For a moment, Donpappa thought he saw the figure pull something from within his cloak, but in the blink of an eye, he suddenly disappeared. Donpappa blinked a few more times, as if expecting the man to reappear, but he was gone. The boy expelled a breath and turned around, unknowing of what to do now.

There had been one more question he had wanted to ask, the question of the man's identity. Donpappa had seen his face before, he knew that to be so. But somehow, from the moment he had looked into the familiar man's ebony eyes and heard him speak in that empty voice, he had realized that whomever he had been speaking to was _not_ the same person he had met, if only briefly, all those years ago.

* * *

The Veiled Sentry were a secretive group of human-shaped creatures whose only calling was cold-blooded assassination. Handpicked among many of the same creatures by the Dark Alchemist himself for their knowledge of tracking and infiltration, they had become a powerful force feared by those that opposed Lunpa. Numerous times had they single-handedly turned the tide of a battle by leaving many in an encampment dead by the end of the night, only rarely being seen by anybody. Now they were going to be called once again.

Garet slowly approached the encampment of Lunpa, which rested before the shores of the Karagol Sea. The old Kalay dock shop where tickets for boat trips had once been sold now served as a resting station for the wounded soldiers. Hastily constructed tents surrounded the small station, where the soldiers of Lunpa were sleeping for the night. Along the docks were a few remaining soldiers with their weapons in hand, keeping watch and listening to the battle over the great sea before them.

As the Mars Adept stopped and looked about at the men he had once been fighting against, and saw the same fear and apprehension that he had seen in the faces of those he had once called his allies, he remembered his harsh words to Alex in which he had condemned these very men for their atrocities. The very men that he was now expected to call his new allies. Garet cringed slightly at the sense of guilt enveloping him, but the feeling faded away as he gripped his gloved hands tightly, remembering the cause of his anger.

_A 'maladjusted child', am I? _Garet thought with an ugly scowl. _Maybe, but he's no better. Self-serving bastard never had to watch his family die. Never lifted a finger to help anyone but himself._ And even then, Garet reasoned to himself, these men were still thieves; they were brigands who would have sooner looted a distraught town then admit that their leader's ambitions were wrong. Maybe they were honorable in a sense, but they had marked themselves as criminals. It was no one's fault but their own for being judged as the deadly men the frightened people of Weyard now perceived them to be.

With that, the former soldier pushed aside his thoughts and walked toward the camp, catching the attention of several Lunpa thieves and soldiers. There was no discernable emotion in their eyes as they watched him, but even if there had been, Garet would not have noticed. He walked toward one of the soldiers resting on the dock, who immediately straightened up, and spoke in a hushed voice. "I am here for the Veiled Sentry. Where are they?"

A look of fear passed over the soldier's face, but he nodded and motioned for Garet to follow him. The uneasy man began to lead him through the camp, eventually coming to a stop before a tent of black cloth situated several feet away from the rest. There was nothing to suggest it was any different from the rest, but the look on the man's face told the story.

"By your leave," the soldier said as he made to return to his post, no doubt relieved to put as much distance between him and the black tent as possible. Garet barely acknowledged the soldier as he pulled the flap open and entered. It was dark, but the six pairs of glowing red and green eyes told him that he was being watched.

"We have a mission for you. Get out here. Now." His command clear, Garet took a step back to give the servants of his leader space to exit the tent. With an almost ghostly silence, six of them emerged from the dark and stepped into the torch light, lining up in two lines of three.

They were human-shape creatures, so named for their shadowed faces hidden behind their large veils. Their heads were encased in turbans with a single large feather on each of them. The only indication of there being something beyond the cloth were their glowing eyes. In the dim light, Garet could make out the different colors of their attire. In one line, three of the assassins were wearing blue veils and green turbans, the Assassin class, while the second line of assassins hid behind pink veils and purple turbans, the deadlier Slayer class. Their bodies were encased in black cloth and the armor of soldiers they had no doubt killed themselves. Each of the creatures also had small, sharp daggers clenched in each hand. The Slayers, however, also carried traveler packs slung over their shoulders filled with smoke bombs, sleep bombs, and other dangerous items that allowed them to strike from a distance.

With six members of the sentry lined up and ready, Garet looked to the tent, awaiting the seventh and final member.

A guttural growl came from within the tent, breaking the silence, and then it appeared. The Dark Murder, it was called, the leader of the Veiled Sentry, and the only living creature who had ever willingly submitted to the Dark Curse. Its attire was similar to that of the other assassins, but this monster was larger in stature. Its turban was an ugly brown and stained with blood, and the feather protruding from it, as well as his veil, was of a dark lavender hue. Where normally there would be green eyes, there was nothing but blackness behind the veil.

Unlike the rest of its companions, its daggers were not the primary weapons it used. Clutched in one hand over its shoulder was a huge, bloodstained Disk Axe. The weapon was an indicator of what the Dark Murder enjoyed about its jobs; it was an assassin, like the others, but where they favored subtle, secretive killing, the Dark Murder enjoyed ruthless destruction, commanding the others to handle the secretive jobs unless it absolutely had to step in.

Garet instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He had never liked working with the sentry, and the Dark Murder was particularly unnerving to him. He had once disobeyed Garet's orders to only kill a select few captains of a Tolbi force, opting to nearly slaughter the entire camp before a Psynergetic blast from Garet had stopped the bloodlust.

"The Dark Alchemist has ordered us to hunt down the werewolf Maha. He betrayed the team, and we're have to find him as quickly as possible." He glared at the leader, only slightly chilled by the fact that there was no possible way to read into what the creature was thinking thanks to the absent glow of his eyes. "No killing. We are to apprehend him only. Step out of line again, and I'll not only personally make an example out of you to your men, but the Dark Alchemist will hear from me that you went against his orders, and he'll subject you to what he plans to do to Maha. Understood?"

The Dark Murder gave him an unnoticeable glare in response, but slowly nodded its head.

* * *

Feizhi breathed heavily as she knelt upon one knee, glad that the non-stop sprint towards the city of Kalay was finally over. The city was still about a mile away and could be seen from where she and Hama had stopped to rest, but Hama had told her to wait here for reasons she still did not know. Shivering slightly in the cold night, the Xian woman wrapped her cloak around herself. She cast a quick glance around the small clearing, naturally alert, before turning her gaze back to her former mentor. Hama was very still as she leaned against a tree and simply gazed upon the city of Kalay, the home of her brother. Feizhi could not help but admire the serenity of the scene before her. Hama showed not the slightest signs of exhaustion from their running, and was still enough, and beautiful enough in her partner's eyes, to almost be a part of the landscape. With a small smile, Feizhi stood and moved closer to Hama, also looking out to the city.

"_Reveal,"_ Hama spoke, barely above a whisper. She quickly looked for any possible spies around the clearing, now exposed to the power of her sight, before undoing her Psynergetic spell.

"M-" Feizhi caught herself as she began to speak and shook her head at herself. It was so strange to her that even when their relationship had long since exceeded that of the master and the protégé, she still found herself wanting to refer to Hama by the title she had once held. "…H-Hama. What shall we do now? Do you truly intend to bring Ivan to… him?"

"You already know the answer," Hama said, continuing to look toward the nearby city. "It appears the time has come for me to sever ties with the darkness."

Feizhi tilted her head, puzzled that Hama seemed to be avoiding her gaze. She was about to question this, when the sound of a snapping twig followed by some rustling of shrubs broke the silence. Both women looked toward the surrounding trees. Feizhi took a deep breath, preparing to lunge into an attack if need be, and Hama took a few steps forward and cast her Reveal spell again. After a few moments she spoke softly, "Nobody…"

Feizhi shivered before speaking. "Much danger may yet come to Kalay. The dark warrior may attack when we do not return."

Hama nodded her understanding. "I will not return to him." Her eyes were shut in regret. "But I must ask you to do so, Feizhi."

A silence met her words. Hama finally turned to her friend, seeing what appeared to be a stern look, but Hama could see a sadness behind the eyes.

"I told you it may come to this. You must go back and tell him that we have parted ways."

"I will not refuse an order from you. I just wish to know why."

Hama's face darkened with anger. "That fool Alex made sure that the Dark Alchemist's sights were set on me as one of the possible defectors. I have a reason to betray him, and now he knows it. But you do not. Furthermore, if Ivan and I fail to keep the Dark Star from them, I need to rely on you to take it back from them when you have the chance. You may even acquire vital information of his overall plans, should we be so lucky. I cannot deny the danger involved, but we both agreed long ago that the safety of Weyard is more important than… us, did we not?"

Hama finally turned her head to look into her younger partner's eyes as she nodded her confirmation. "And if our luck holds out, he may seek to test your loyalty by sending you to kill me, in which case…"

"An escape will be simpler," Feizhi finished.

"You understand, then?"

"I understand that you give me no other choice."

Before Hama could reply, a rustling in nearby bushes caught her attention. She and Feizhi both turned sharply in the direction of the sounds, readying for the worst. A low growl was heard from within the shrubbery, and an aging werewolf clothed in black robes emerged, surveying the area quickly before acknowledging the two women. "I am glad to see you both again."

"Maha," Hama acknowledged back with a slight inclination of her head. "Does Ivan have it, then?"

Maha nodded. "I have explained everything to him. He is waiting for you now at the Kalay palace."

"I see. And what of Tolbi's forces?"

"The battle for the Karagol has come to a stalemate for now. A small group has left the encampment to cross the mountains north of Champa to aid in the coming battle against the ships of Alhafra, although it will undoubtedly prove futile. The journey will take them too long. And even if they were to make it, the city is pinned against the mountains. The only way out is the sea, and their numbers will undoubtedly prove insufficient to repel Alhafra's sea force."

Hama stayed silent for several seconds, deep in thought. "Champa's fall will be a devastating defeat. We may have to intervene, though I doubt that will win the battle. Even we have limits."

Feizhi suddenly spoke up. "The warriors of Xian still live."

Her companions understood immediately. "They would certainly give Champa the advantage," Maha stated, looking between the two women. "And the route to Champa from the Silk Road will not be as arduous as the mountain trek."

Hama shared a glance with Feizhi, both of them sharing the same thought. "My father would not help Dodonpa, least of all by taking no action," Feizhi stated, the slightest hint of pride in her voice. "He will help to weaken Lunpa's forces."

"Then Ivan and I will go to the Silk Road and request their assistance," Hama said, giving Feizhi a sorrowful look. "The Dark Alchemist will no doubt be suspicious if you were to ask to go yourself, and he probably would not let you in any case. It will have to be me."

"I am in no hurry to see my father again."

Hama let her eyes linger on Feizhi for a moment before turning away to look at the silent Maha. "There is one more thing, Maha. It is probably for the best if you depart somewhere east for the time being, and if not, at least be very careful. The Dark Alchemist has sent Garet to gather the Veiled Sentry and they will be searching for you tonight."

There was a flash of apprehension in Maha's eyes. "I see. Perhaps it is for the best that I return to Kalay with you and then leave with you and Ivan. At the very least, I will be able to lend a hand in keeping the star away from that man. For now, though…" Maha trailed off, his ears twitching. He turned away from the two women and his eyes surveyed the forest behind him, sniffing the air a few times.

"What is it?" Feizhi asked, taking notice of Maha's odd behavior.

"Listen," he spoke. "The wild has grown deathly silent." And indeed, the forest suddenly seemed lacking in sound from bird and beast. "Something is amiss…"

"Are we being watched?" Hama asked in a whisper, her hand creeping toward her concealed dagger.

Maha growled low in his throat. "If so, they seem to be keeping back. In any case, it would be best to conclude this meeting now." The lycanthrope raised the hood of his cloak to hide his face. "I shall search the wild. You go to Kalay without me."

"But the Sentry…"

"I know. But I need to be sure. I shall join you as quick as I can." His ears twitched and he sniffed the air again before departing into the trees, allowing his instincts to aid in his search.

The two women were silent for several agonizing seconds, watching the retreating form of Maha as long as they could to keep from addressing each other. It was not until she heard a blade being unsheathed did Hama turn around to face Feizhi, who had unsheathed one of her two small, but very sharp daggers. She was surprised to see her etch a cut in her right cheek, flinching a bit from the pain and the sensation of her blood. She then made several rather large tears in her left sleeve before putting away the blade.

Looking up to see her partner's questioning glance, the corners of Feizhi's lips turned upward in a sly manner. "I think I should do my best to convince him that I am loyal to his task."

The Jupiter Adept could not help but give her a slight smile. "It never occurred to me, but yes, that is a good idea."

Another still, uncomfortable silence passed between the two women.

"Still… you had better treat those cuts soon before they… before they get worse."

Feizhi boldly strode forward and wrapped her arms around a surprised Hama, who automatically reciprocated the gesture. Feizhi pressed her lips against Hama's for the briefest of seconds before pulling back and whispering.

"Some things are far more painful."

"I will not let him have the star."

"That is not what I meant."

"I know."

Feizhi moved away from Hama with one more smile, and then she turned and began to sprint away from the forest clearing, never looking back.

Hama watched her leave for only a few seconds before turning away. She knew she could not afford to lose her resolve now. With a deep breath, she began to sprint with the wind once more to complete her journey to the city of Kalay and to her brother.

One of the bushes around the empty clearing suddenly began to rustle, and out of thin air, the figure in black appeared as he stepped into the moonlit clearing holding the Cloak Ball in his hands, having heard every word of the exchange. He barely reacted to the animalistic growl behind him, staring straight ahead. Maha, his form almost entirely encased in thick shrubbery, hidden like a predator, stayed low to the ground on all fours, ready to pounce if need be.

* * *

"W-what are we to do with this?" Conservato and the other elder Lemurians crowded around the Mythril bag containing the dark star of water.

Alex had to resist the urge to shake his head in frustration. "I made it simple enough. Just keep it safe. Hide it under that big table, for all I care. Just refrain from the desire to pass it around and tell everyone what it is, and you will be fine." His piece said, the Alchemist raised a hood over his head and walked out of the Lemurian Senate building. A smirk appeared on his face as he heard the usual arguing within the building as the old relics who had assumed control of this once proud city bickered over the deal with the devil they had once so readily made.

He felt many golden eyes on him, awed by his presence. Like the water that permeated this city, he seemed to glide gracefully through the city, his steps covered by his cerulean cloak. Only once in a long while did any of them get the chance to see him, and they seemed to understand and fearfully respect what he represented; they knew that the power many of them had once feared would destroy Weyard and them along with it now rested in his hands. Only a portion, perhaps, but only he knew that.

Alex stopped before the fountain of the city, it's clear waters seemingly brimming with life-prolonging energy. With a single hand, he scooped a tiny portion out and drank it. His energy revitalized almost immediately, he made his way to Lemuria's secret entrance that would return him to the water caves. He walked down the steps that turned from marble to gray stone, and onto the grassy piece of land that was a dead end to anybody without a boat.

The Alchemist did not stop walking, however, and with every step Alex took, the calm waters of Lemuria's silent marina were frozen solid as he made his way through the cavern, creating his own road. He could easily have teleported himself away by now with a single thought, just as he had done to arrive at this shipyard, but the blue-haired man could not help but admire the architecture of the ancient ships of Lemuria. It seemed shameful that the products of such careful craftsmanship had been left to become relics of a bygone era. They served as more saddening reminders of an age whose doom had been planned long before the birth of thousands of its children.

_Focus,_ Alex chastised himself. _You are not here to sight-see…_

But he knew that for all his changes through the years, his heart had always been that of a scholar. To discover the mysteries of this world was his calling. The city had held a certain wonder about it, itself a relic of grander times. The old days… the golden days.

He knew what the others thought of him. A pitiful cynic with a frozen heart who tried his damnedest to construct reasons to look down upon all others. And indeed, though the wonders of human achievement were not beyond his ability to admire, they were not enough to vanquish his contempt of human ills. He would never deny that. Even the people of this very city that filled Alex with such wonder had proven themselves inept and unworthy of the glory that surrounded them, not only willingly hiding away while the world withered, but easily controlled by those in league with the Dark Alchemist.

And yet, it was not the doom of Weyard's people he craved. Not when he could plainly see that the desire to create and persevere still existed. But he could not leave them to their own devices. The people of Weyard would undoubtedly fail if he were to give in to pure chance, just a roll of the lucky dice. The future required an overseer. Someone who could not only understand the beauty of creation, but could adjust it at will, as a scholar might his records in need of updating. If gaining such power meant succumbing to darkness, then so be it.

No, he was not watching society crumble, as that fool had accused him of. He was personally ensuring the growth of a prosperous future. The only future that he knew was worth fighting for, that was worth killing for…

No matter who had to die.

The icy road melted, cracked apart, and dissolved into the dark waters without a trace.

* * *

"You knew that I was here the whole time."

"I had a suspicion. So what brings you here, Alchemist? Are you here to beat that Garet to the prize of my head?"

"I am under no orders to bring you to the Dark Alchemist, as the Mars Adept is, and so that is not my intent. However, I _am_ here to put an end to your rebellion."

"And what would the difference be?"

"I plan to bring you under the influence of my curse. To put it simply, I do not trust you to keep yourself safe from the Veiled Sentry, and I do not want them to take you to the Dark Alchemist."

"Why would you do this? Are you rebelling against him as well?"

"Against his orders of subjecting you to his wrath, to be sure. But against his plans to enshroud this world, as most of you are… well, that is another question, and one I cannot answer."

"So you know... does your partner know about our disloyalty?"

"I would imagine he has his suspicions. However, betrayal is the least of his worries. He is only using all of you to acquire what he desires for himself."

"It sounds as though you do not agree with his plans."

"Enough talk. There is no time left. You will surrender to the Dark Curse, or suffer a most ungracious fate."

"There is no difference between the two in my eyes. Consider your offer denied."

"I warned you."

Maha readied himself and moved slightly to the left into some brush, letting his wild nature awaken. "Your move, then."

"No."

Maha relaxed his tensed muscles, but held his position. He watched as the man took calm steps forward through the clearing, leaving himself wide open for attack. What was he doing?

"Not my move," the man in black spoke as he walked into the shadows of the trees and the Cloak Ball erased him from view. Almost immediately following that, Maha howled in pain as a burning blast of fire Psynergy struck him and sent him rolling along the ground. Clenching his teeth, he looked up to see Garet, and behind him, various pairs of red and green eyes watching him from the darkness of the forest. Maha expelled a breath of simultaneous rage and fear.

"Give up, werewolf," the Mars Adept whispered, just loud enough for Maha to hear. "He might just lessen your punishment if you go quietly." Another burst of flame struck Maha and he felt his body painfully collide with a tree. The lycanthrope panted heavily as he slowly looked up to see Garet closing in, his left palm raised in warning, and his right hand clutching his broadsword.

"I do not intend to go quietly," Maha growled. _"Whirlwind!"_ Calling upon his Psynergy, a cloud of dust and grass flew up, obscuring him from view. Maha rolled away from the tree anticipating the blast of Psynergetic fire Garet sent towards him, hitting the tree and leaving small embers that quickly dissipated. Then, with a unexpected burst of speed, the werewolf took to his feet and fled through the trees of the forest.

"Get him! And remember, don't kill him!" At his command, the Veiled Sentry broke off into the darkness of the trees as well. Garet prepared to give chase until he sensed something behind him. Slowly turning his head, the Dark Murder soon entered his view. The creature was just standing, watching the events unfold. A silence passed between man and monster before Garet muttered, "If I were you, I'd start moving. Now."

The Dark Murder seemed to turn its head slightly to finally acknowledge him, and an ugly growl responded from beyond the veil. Then, without warning, it looked back at the path and took off at a sprint, running on a much different path than his fellow assassins. Apparently, the ruthless creature had been able to discern where Maha was going beyond his men's abilities. If that was so, then Maha truly was doomed.

_For the greater good._

* * *

Through bushes and in between trees, Maha attempted to lose his pursuers through a series of complicated twists and turns within the forest that he had memorized. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be working. It seemed that every time he found an opening to escape the forest and make his way across the plains again, the red and green eyes would be there in the shadows, threatening him to come closer. They were as adept at navigating this forest as much as him.

Maha stopped to quickly rest between two trees, cursing himself for being fooled by the Dark Alchemist. But had he truly been fooled? Only now had he stopped and thought about the man's demeanor during their conversation. Had he truly wanted to help him escape Garet? Well, Maha reasoned to himself, even if he had been genuine, the idea of being placed under his control was unbearable, even if it would keep him safe. When his ears picked up the sound of the assassins closing in, he silently declared his rest time over and sprinted away once again.

As he found himself trapped by the eyes once again at another turn to escape the forest, Maha was forced to make a sharp turn behind a tree on the path as daggers suddenly began flying from the shadows, all aimed at non-lethal points on his body, thrown by expert killers. Summoning up what little attack spells he could use, Maha growled low in his throat, _"Plasma."_

An explosion of light behind his tree, that he hoped would distract them long enough, was his signal to start moving again, fatigued as he already was. From the grunts he heard, he could tell he had taken them by surprise and had forcefully broken up the group. This time, however, he stayed low as he swiftly made his way through the brush and tall grass of this particular area. He was going to have to attack if he was going to survive. Letting his hunting instincts drive him, he watched through the tiniest crack in the blades of grass at one particular Slayer that had hit more directly by the spell and was further away from the others.

Wasting no time, Maha charged, calling up a burst of wind to once again hide his movement as he leapt with a roar onto the creature, knocking it onto his back, and in one swift motion, sank his jaws into his throat and tore at it. The Slayer choked, an ugly guttural sound as black blood stained the grass below. Its green eyes slowly faded from view as they shut. Feeling no remorse through his animalistic rage, Maha seized the pack of weapons the Slayer had been carrying, slung it over his neck and was off again. Behind him, an Assassin flung a dagger which caught him on one of his legs, sending him sprawling with a howl of pain.

Maha quickly grabbed the dagger and pulled it out of leg, ignoring the blood flow. In desperation, he cast another Plasma spell to hold them off before running off again, now with a limp and still holding the dagger. As a result, he did not get far before something of immeasurable strength collided with him in a body blow, accompanied by a horrifying roar that made the blood of the werewolf run cold. The Dark Murder had found him.

Maha was sent through branches and shrubbery and finally into the mud of a small clearing area, the bag of weapons and the dagger flying off into the mud. He looked up to see the demon leap into the clearing with him, slamming its Disk Axe into the ground and starting toward him.

Maha growled and lashed out with his claws at the killer, who easily avoided his strikes. The werewolf's enraged attack was quickly ended by a swift punch across the face, and then a kick in the stomach that sent him flying backwards. The monster was going to beat him into submission to avoid killing him, Maha realized through the pained haze in his head. As the Dark Murder closed in for another punch, Maha dodged the hit and pounced, sinking his teeth into the enormous hand. The assassin let out a breath of pain before bringing the werewolf close enough to smash its knee his stomach. Maha released the hand, but lashed out and slashed the Dark Murder's chest. It responded by clasping its hands together and bringing them down in an overhead smash on his head, sending him back to the cold ground.

Already, the beaten lycanthrope could feel exhaustion threatening to take hold from the heavy hits. He looked up to see the assassin raise one heavy boot to bring down upon one of his legs and break it, and quickly rolled away, feeling the force of the crushing stomp on the ground nonetheless, filling him with fear at what almost was. Maha looked around as he got to his feet to see that the rest of the Veiled Sentry was approaching. The Dark Murder, however, let out another roar and waved them off, indicating its desire to finish him off alone. The Slayers and Assassins obeyed, keeping behind to watch, and the leader charged at Maha, ready to end the struggle.

As his senses returned, Maha charged as well, giving the illusion of a full-frontal assault before sliding along the ground past the feet of the Dark Murder. As the lumbering thing turned to look at him, Maha gave an enraged snarl and leapt into the air, now clutching the dagger he had dropped moments ago and a Bramble Seed from the fallen bag. Flinging the enchanted seed at the monster's feet, it let out a roar of pain as dozens of thorny branches suddenly sprouted and pierced its skin. Enraged, it lashed out with its heavyset arms and tore the branches into pieces in seconds. However, in its momentary surprise, the Dark Murder could not stop Maha before he jammed the dagger through the seemingly empty space behind the veil and into one of its eyes.

The monster let out a horrifying scream that sounded bizarrely unnatural; it was a sound that nothing could or should ever make. Maha tried to back away, but the Dark Murder clasped its mighty hand around his throat before he could, still clutching at the dagger and finally pulling it out, causing a burst of black blood. It flung the dagger away with its own snarl.

Still clutching the werewolf by the throat, the Dark Murder clenched its free hand and smashed it into Maha's chest. Then another punch followed. And another. Feeling like his bones were broken, Maha was flung aside by the Dark Murder, and lay on the ground, exhausted. His attacker seemed to shrug off the immense pain it had clearly been put through, as if gaining a second wind from the pain. The Dark Murder made its way over to the beaten werewolf and brought its leg up once again over Maha's own leg. This time, Maha was too tired to move away. The crushing blow landed, and Maha's world was nothing but horrific pain before everything went black.

Its task done, the leader of the assassins fell to one knee, exhausted and in pain for the first time in years. Its fellow assassins moved forward into the clearing, as did Garet, who had arrived to see the end of the fight.

* * *

The azure man smiled as the assassins dropped the bound body of Maha to the ground at his feet. The werewolf was in pain from his broken leg, but still looked down to the ground in anger and defiance. He would not show shame to the man before him.

"Good work. I must admit, Garet, I had my suspicions about you, but you have done a great service to us. I see the werewolf put up a fight to the end." He motioned to the bleeding Dark Murder, who was now standing still despite its injuries, holding a torch in its hand.

Garet barely acknowledged the monster. "Sure. Now, I _am_ going to be the one to bring Isaac to you, right? You promised me that."

"I made no such promise." At Garet's affronted look, the dark being silenced him with a look. "I said that I might consider letting you do so, and indeed I am considering it now. However, if you keep this up, not only will you not fight him, but I will station you miles away from Vale when we attack. Now be silent." Garet nodded and stepped back, looking down at the ground.

The Dark Alchemist began to look around the clearing where the group, or what was left of it, had reconvened against his own expectations. Clearly, many things had changed over the course of a few hours.

He focused on Feizhi as he noted her wounds, and stepped closer to her. "What is this, then? Where is your dear partner?"

The young woman held her anger inside as she spoke, "Master Hama has betrayed our cause. She would not harm her brother. I remain loyal to the cause, and so I faced her in battle."

The azure man nodded his cloaked head. "Interesting. Although those wounds seem greatly precise for what was assuredly a fierce battle…"

Feizhi felt her blood go cold as she remained silent. However, a voice was then heard approaching the clearing. "Do not worry. It is quite true. I saw the fight myself." She and the blue man turned to see the man in black, the other Dark Alchemist. "She has remained loyal to us indeed." Feizhi looked at the man in black in confusion. Why was he lying to the one whom he had the greatest connection to? Was he on their side rather than his?

"I see," The leader smiled at Feizhi, who did not return it as she was still more confused than anything else. "Do not worry about her. You will soon find comfort in the gloriousness of darkness. Trust me."

"I… will try."

As the man in azure moved away from Feizhi, he began to look around, noticing another member of the cult seemed to be missing.

"Do not bother," Alex called, resting against a tree. "Felix left his post to go to Vale. There is no doubt in my mind that he has gone to warn them of the impending attack."

"Then it would appear my suspicions were correct about him." A freezing wind emanating from the blue man made the entire group shiver. "Two betrayals, and no further along than we were before. What a shame. However, we now have a prisoner." He looked down at the werewolf. "How about it, Master Maha? Is there anything of worth you would like to tell us? I assume from Master Hama's betrayal, the Jupiter Adept that is her brother has the dark star of Jupiter, then?"

Maha refused to talk.

"I will take your silence as a confirmation. In that case, I know where to attack next. I humbly thank you, and regret that I must do this."

Maha scoffed, finally speaking, his voice cracking from the pain of his leg. "No… you do… not. You may have… fooled everyone else… but I see through you. You monster. You are a monster…"

The Dark Alchemist frowned. "If you wish for your final thoughts to be of pain and rage, so be it. I made my terms clear that dissent would be met with vengeance. And now, as we approach the eleventh hour of the world, I can accept nothing else but death for betrayers. And so it is that your death shall be an awakening of an ancient tradition." With his piece said, he raised a hand and Maha's body began to rise and float through the air before being placed atop a massive pile of combustible wood laying in the middle of the clearing, soaked in oil. "Purification."

The azure man shut his eyes regretfully for the group to see. "I am sorry that this must be done. But let this be a reminder of what awaits for those who would turn their back on the beauty of Dark Alchemy. There can be none who would willingly leave the shadows if we are to have peace in this world." He turned back around to face the pyre. "Make your own peace now, werewolf. With your death, so too will the last remnants of a brutal time die with you. History will look upon you with respect and sadness. The last werewolf, burned away by his own ignorance. A relic. A traitor. A hero to his people. And so be it."

Maha remained silent. Inwardly, he apologized to the memories of his slain people of Garoh, to which he had promised to avenge them by helping to bring an end to the war that plagued Weyard. War… a concept which the werewolves had distanced themselves from for so long. The ultimate and most foolish staple of mankind, which werewolf evolution had helped him and his people to rise above.

The man in blue turned to the Dark Murder. "Light the pyre." The Dark Murder growled in response, and made its way over to the wood and wolf. For a moment, it seemed to acknowledge Maha silently. It stared directly at him, and Maha stared back. For what purpose the creature looked upon him for so long, he would never know. He was not even sure if the assassin knew itself why it did so. Then, without a sound, the werewolf's executioner dropped the torch onto the wood.

Maha looked up the shining moon above and let out a long, mournful howl as loud as he possibly could. He hoped someone would hear it. He hoped other werewolves that perhaps lurked the forests of Weyard would be able to hear it. And if so, he hoped that whoever heard it would somehow be able to understand his pain and the sacrifice he had made for the world, and perhaps set their sights on a stronger life because of it. It was all he had ever hoped to give to a constantly changing world.

The burning continued for a long time, the dark group watching the entire thing. Feizhi looked away, holding back the immense sadness and tears, swearing to somehow avenge his death. Garet clenched his fists unbearably tightly and told himself he had been justified in bringing this about. Alex watched, his face absent of any kind of emotion, inwardly feeling saddened that he had never had the chance to converse with the werewolf of his scholarly learning through the ages. The man in black simply watched, no emotion on his face, and no thoughts in his head.

The leader watched with a regretful expression on his face, only allowing himself to smile and laugh behind his unseen mask.

* * *

Disclaimer: What a bastard. What kind of sick mind comes up with a character like that? Anyway, I do not own the Golden Sun series.

Some of you will probably notice how long it took to put this up. While I don't think I'll take as long getting the next one up, it's a pretty good indicator of how I expect this to work. The passion I had for this story has died and been revived many times over the years, and right now it's holding on by a thread. In other words, I'm not making this story top priority like I used to. At this point, I'm just putting it up to put something up because I still genuinely enjoy writing this stuff, and its been sitting on my computer forever, so I figured I might as well depress a few people with how I take a mostly optimistic series and give it an unnecessarily dark turn. Isn't the first, won't be the last, I'm sure. Also, the possibility of someone still being somewhat interested in reading it is also a plus.

On a more important note, it goes without saying that is strictly in its own universe. A sort of, "what if Dark Dawn never happened" thing. I have never played Dark Dawn and probably won't be able to for a long time, so things are not going to be meshing with that at all. Hell, it barely meshes with the original games because I'm not good with story details involving Alchemy. This is an old story and an old concept and it shows, so going with the flow is crucial. Then again, since most of this story is just an excuse to write a lot of fun fight scenes, you probably already guessed that. Thanks for reading. See you in another couple of years.


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